You could use melted coconut oil or avocado oil.

The cake will be denser if you use all-purpose flour. If you have cornstarch, I’d recommend using my cake flour substitute.

In reply to Rayana.

Hi there  and thank you so much for this recipe ! 

Would I be able to us all purpose flour or will the texture be off ?? I thank you in advance !

Hi, Deb! I typically use Swans Down cake flour or Pillsbury Softasilk cake flour.

May I ask which brand of cake flour you would recommend? I have been hesitant to buy cake flour, but would like to try some of your recipes that call for cake flour. Thank you 😊

You do need the buttermilk in this recipe, since it reacts with the baking soda. If you only have whole milk on hand though, you can add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to it to make a buttermilk substitute. I have a post on how to do that here.

Hi, Chloe! I haven’t tried it, but I think it would probably work to infuse the buttermilk with some earl grey tea. If you feel like it needs more flavor, then adding a simple syrup infused with some tea would be a good idea!

Hi! My friend wants an earl grey cake for her birthday and I can’t seem to find any good recipes. I was wondering if you think I could use this vanilla cake recipe and then add some early grey flavours like infuse the buttermilk with earl grey tea or add some earl grey simple syrup? Just wondering if you think this could work? Thank you I love all of your recipes!