If you know, you know. A vanilla-infused cake with a cheesecake-like vanilla mousse and sweet vanilla buttercream form a cake that doesn’t need a party to devour. The happy birthday message written on top is merely a ruse to disguise the reality that it’s just for you (maybe a tiny bit for your family) on a weekday night. The membership restraint is lifted with this Copycat Costco Vanilla Cake. A homemade version of a popular cake that’s satisfying through and through.

Being called vanilla is generally an insult, describing dull, plain, and placid qualities. But with Copycat Costco Vanilla Cake, it is far from neutral. This white cake is light, tender, and packed with floral and fragrant vanilla. A fluffy mousse is layered in between a classic butter-based frosting for a complete triple vanilla delight.

The ingredients here are slightly different from your average quick-prep cake. Cake flour in the base of the cake rather than standard all-purpose flour. The ratio of wet ingredients is different with the use of egg whites and one egg yolk.

Most cake recipes have you beating the butter and sugar, but here you’re mixing the dry ingredients into the bowl and then incorporating the butter. This method — called the reverse-mixing method — is great for butter-based cake recipes and gives you optimal tenderness without a lot of air pockets. To prevent a kitchen disaster, make sure your butter is not just at room temperature but softened. Softened means it can be easily spread and smeared onto a piece of toast.

The mixture will look a little sandy, but trust the process. Once the butter and dry ingredients are incorporated, add your eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Adding the milk in thirds will incorporate the needed moisture without compromising the structure of the batter. Finally, a hefty pour of vanilla gives this cake great flavor.

Divide the batter between two pans and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean with a few moist, but not wet, crumbs.

While the cakes cool you can prep the filling which is a mixture of cream cheese, whipped cream, milk, and pudding mix. The filling is creamy and not-too-sweet making it a great counter to the frosting outside. You can find the recipe for the filling here.

A vanilla-rich buttercream gives this cake that classic bakery-style cake feeling we’re all secretly longing for. The addition of cornstarch and water smooths out the grittiness of the powdered sugar without compromising the pipe-able, sturdy texture of the frosting.

Served and sliced, this cake is full of vanilla and more flavorful than the average cake you’d find in the store. The cake flour and the mixing method make for a tender crumb while the egg whites give the cake a bit of airiness.

The filling has a slightly cheesecake-like quality to it, while the outer frosting has a pure vanilla taste.

This bakery-style buttercream is smooth thanks to an addition of cornstarch and water slurry mixed into the batter. This slurry smooths out the grittiness of the powdered sugar and does not leave you with a sugar-crusted mouth feel.

Like the original cake, the cake is two layers and filled with ample vanilla mousse filling. To prevent the filling from leaking out of the sides of the cake, pipe a dame of frosting on the perimeter of the cake.

A smooth coating of the frosting is garnished with sprinkles and a happy celebratory message.

Slicing into the cake, you get to see the pure glory that is Copycat Costco Vanilla Cake. The cake is super tender with little air bubbles. The mousse has almost a cheesecake quality to the texture, but the whipped cream gives it a nice levity.

You can easily double the recipe, bake the batter in two 9×13-inch pans, and make your own version of a bakery sheet cake. This cake is super versatile and can be made ahead, frozen, defrosted, and then decorated with frosting.

This cake is so good that it can make a normal weekday or weekend and turn it into a celebration. Cake always has a good reason to be eaten.