Vanilla Layer Cake

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Serves 12

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Ingredients

285 g flour (spooned and leveled; Weizenmehl Type 405)
13 g baking powder (Backpulver)
salt (a pinch; Salz)
170 g butter (salted, softened; gesalzene Butter)
350 g sugar (granulated; Zucker)
80 ml vegetable oil (about 75 g; Pflanzenöl)
4 egg yolks (large, room temperature; Eigelb)
15 ml vanilla extract (Vanilleextrakt)
235 ml buttermilk (room temperature; Buttermilch)
2 egg whites (large, room temperature; Eiweiß)
1.5 ml lemon juice (optional, stabilizes the whites; or the same amount of white vinegar; Zitronensaft)

Steps

Heat the oven to 175°C. Grease two 23 cm round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment rounds, then grease the parchment. Nonstick spray is easiest.
Whisk flour (285 g), baking powder (13 g), and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Beat butter (170 g) and sugar (350 g) on medium-high with a paddle attachment until pale and creamy, about ⏲ 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
Beat in vegetable oil (80 ml) for ⏲ 1 minute, then egg yolks (4) until incorporated, then vanilla extract (15 ml).
On low speed, add a third of the dry mixture and half of buttermilk (235 ml). Then another third of the dry and the remaining buttermilk. Then the last of the dry. The batter will be very thick — finish by hand with a whisk to catch lumps at the bottom. Set aside.
In a clean bowl with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites (2) on high until foamy, add lemon juice (1.5 ml) if using, and continue to medium-stiff peaks, about ⏲ 3 minutes. Without the acid they tip from soft to dry quickly, so stop as soon as the peaks hold their shape and stay glossy.
Stir about a quarter of the whites into the thick batter fairly briskly to loosen it, then fold in the rest gently. Divide evenly between the pans.
Bake ⏲ 27–31 minutes, until a toothpick in the centre comes out clean. Start checking at 27 minutes.
Cool in the pans on a wire rack for ⏲ 60 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, turn the cakes out, peel the parchment, and let them finish cooling on the rack. Crumbly edges are normal.