Shadowing Practice: The Most AMAZING Vanilla Cake Recipe - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Today I'm teaching you how to make the only vanilla cake recipe you'll ever need.
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And if you like this video, don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe.
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Hey, you're watching Preppy Kitchen, where I, John Cannell, teach you how to make delicious homemade dishes to share with your family and friends.
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This cake will be ready before you know it.
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So let's get started.
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First off, set your oven to 350 and prep your two eight -inch pans.
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You could also make this with three six -inch pans if you want.
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Gonna give the sides a nice bit of butter, little for the bottom, and then just place that sheet right there.
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A circle of parchment paper is your insurance for no broken or cracked cakes when they release.
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That is heartbreak.
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For this cake, we're using 2 1⁄2 cups or 280 grams of all -purpose flour.
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This cake will be the best if you measure your flour the right way, which is with a scale.
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If you're not using a scale, fluff the flour up and then sprinkle it into your measuring cup.
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Now we're adding 3 quarters of a teaspoon of salt and two and a quarter teaspoons of baking powder.
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Now we're gonna sift it up and whisk it out.
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Now we're gonna sift it out and whisk it up.
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Set it aside.
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Right, let's get that stand mixer.
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For this cake, we're using three quarters of a cup or 170 grams of room temperature unsalted butter.
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And room temperature means you can press into the butter and it'll yield to the touch.
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We're gonna cream the butter up so it is nice and smooth before we add the sugar.
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And while we cream it up, we can crack three eggs into a small bowl.
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You do not want any shells in your delicious vanilla cake.
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Our butter is nice and creamed up.
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You can always scrape the bowl down a little bit before you add another ingredient in.
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We want a homogenous mixture.
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Now we're gonna add one and two thirds cups of granulated sugar, that's 333 grams.
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Add it in while it's mixing.
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Increase to high and get it nice and fluffy.
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Mix for three minutes.
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Looks fluffy on top, but not so much on the bottom.
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So we're gonna scrape it down.
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Look at this, this is not fluffy.
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Just scrape it down and mix it up.
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Once it's light and fluffy, we're gonna add three eggs in one at a time.
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Let the first one incorporate before you add the next.
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Otherwise, you'll have an egg soup on top and solid butter on the bottom.
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Last egg.
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Now it's time for a tablespoon or 15 ml of a nice vanilla.
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This is the primary flavor in the cake, so, mmm, don't skimp on it, if possible. In you go.
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Yeah, the smell is amazing.
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One last scrape down, and then we're gonna add the dry mixture and the buttermilk in alternating batches.
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Bring that flour back.
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I also measured out one cup of buttermilk and just like with the eggs, if possible, everything should be room temperature.
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You don't wanna add ice cold ingredients into an oven because then the cake won't bake really evenly.
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You want it to bake nicely throughout so it's pretty flat.
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If you don't, you're gonna have a big dome on the top and the edges will be burnt.
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Okay, this looks beautiful.
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Really loose, light colored mixture.
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If it looks a little bit broken, don't worry.
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It's all gonna come together once we add the flour.
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As long as it's homogenous, you're in the right.
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We're gonna mix also on lowest speed.
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You do not wanna over mix cake batter.
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That will get you in trouble.
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Just sprinkle it in, let it mix a bit, and then add in a third of the buttermilk.
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repeat we're going to mix this until it's almost combined i do not want to see it fully mixed in
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because we're going to finish the cake batter off by hand
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right now there's a lot of chunks of flour probably some butter hanging out here there
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but we're going to use our spatula and bring this all together
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if you over mix your cake batter it'll look perfect
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when it comes out of the oven
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but as soon as it cools down it'll contract it'll be kind of gummy
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and tough and just not melt in in your mouth amazing.
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You do not want to develop the gluten.
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This is ready to go into our pans, so let's get those out.
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You should have just about 600 grams of cake batter per pan, so you can use a scale or eyeball it.
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Either way, I love using my scale.
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I'm only mentioning it because I actually get a lot of questions on how many grams of cake batter per pan, so that's the answer.
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Give your pans a quick tap just to get any big air bubbles out, and you can also tap the sides to help them level out
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and then they go into the oven at 350
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but i'm going to use cake strips
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because i like my layers to be perfectly flat with no trimming because that's wasted cake
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350 for about 30 minutes While my cake was cooling, I whipped up a batch of my simple vanilla buttercream.
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Click up here for that recipe.
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It is delicious and so easy.
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Right, before you use any buttercream, just use your spatula to press any air bubbles out so it decorates up nice and smooth.
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Transfer your frosting to a piping bag, and let's get to work.
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I'm working directly on a cake plate.
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Just add one dot of buttercream on the bottom.
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Place that cake layer in the center.
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and we're gonna cover this with a generous layer of buttercream frosting.
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Give it a quick smooth just to even it out.
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Pop that second layer on.
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Sometimes you'll wanna do a crumb coat because cakes can be crummy, but you don't really need to, so I'll show you.
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All you wanna do is cover the cake in one layer of buttercream, and then you can smooth it out.
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It's gonna look perfect.
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The key is really for the cake to be cool.
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Use an offset spatula and just smooth the top of the cake out.
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Smooth the side.
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This cake actually looks fine to me, but I'm gonna finish it off with a really easy spiral pattern.
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All you need is a rounded tip spatula or any implement and a cake turntable if you have one.
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Otherwise, smooth it out or swoop it up.
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Let's finish this off with a sprinkle of sprinkles to the sprinkle drawer.
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Confetti sprinkles are one of my favorite things just a few
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on the edge is all you need for a lot of
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cheer this is Brian's mom's birthday cake it's her birthday today she deserves all the treats she's really wonderful
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so I hope she likes it if you like this video check out my easy cake playlist.
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Happy birthday, Grandma.
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Should we take a bite?
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Okay, let's take a bite.
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How's it taste?
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Oh, yeah.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Most AMAZING Vanilla Cake Recipe”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cake, add, smooth, butter, mix. This video has 103 sentences and 1195 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:56. The speaker talks at a natural 172 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sprinkle verb | /ˈspɹɪŋkəl/ | To cause (a substance) to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance). |
| flour noun | /ˈflaʊ.ə/ | Powder obtained by grinding or milling cereal grains, especially wheat, or other foodstuffs such as soybeans and potatoes, and used to bake bread, cakes, and… |
| buttercream noun | A type of thick, sweet icing or cake-filling made by creaming butter (or sometimes another fat, such as margarine) with powdered sugar. | |
| batter verb | /ˈbætə/ | To hit or strike violently and repeatedly. |
| gram noun | /ˈɡɹæm/ | A unit of mass equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram. Symbol: g. |
| scrape verb | /skɹeɪp/ | To draw (an object, especially a sharp or angular one), along (something) while exerting pressure. |
| spatula noun | /ˈspætjʊlə/ | A kitchen utensil consisting of a flat surface attached to a long handle, used for turning, lifting, or stirring food. |
| vanilla noun | /vəˈnɪl.ə/ | Any tropical climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in… |
| oven noun | /ˈʌ.vn̩/ | A chamber used for baking or heating. |
| buttermilk noun | /ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/ | The liquid left over after producing butter from full cream milk by the churning process, also called traditional buttermilk. |
| bake verb | /beɪk/ | To cook (something) in an oven (for someone). |
| mixture noun | /ˈmɪkst͡ʃɚ/ | The act of mixing. |
| homogenous adjective | /həˈmɑd͡ʒɪnəs/ | Having the same genetic structure; exhibiting homogeny. |
| sift verb | /sɪft/ | To sieve or strain (something). |
| teaspoon noun | /ˈtiˌspun/ | A small spoon used to stir the contents of a cup or glass. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come together verb | /ˈkʌm tʊˈɡɛðɚ/ | To assemble; to congregate; to combine. |
| cool down verb | /kuːl ˈdaʊn/ | To become cooler; to be reduced in temperature. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Right, let's get that stand mixer.
- As long as it's homogenous, you're in the right.
- We're gonna mix also on lowest speed.
- I'm working directly on a cake plate.
- Should we take a bite?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea | should be · should have · Should we take |
| Future with “going to” be going to + verb — a plan or something you can see coming | Gonna give · gonna sift · gonna cream |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | you'll ever need · will be · it'll yield |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | I'm teaching · you're watching · we're using |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 57 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, gonna, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/, dish /dɪʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: homogenous /həˈmɑd͡ʒɪnəs/, ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/, incorporate /ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like sprinkle, flour, buttercream.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.