Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and line the inside bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir the dry cake mix, flour, granulated sugar, and salt together. Set aside for now.
15.25 ounces white cake mix, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
In a separate large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract together on high until well combined.
1½ cups buttermilk, 1 cup full-fat sour cream, 3 large eggs, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients on high until smooth, about 1 minute.
Pour cake batter evenly between both prepared cake pans (about 749 grams per pan). Try to get the same amount in each pan so that the cake layers bake up to the same size.
Bake for 33-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Remove cakes from oven and let cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes before removing cakes from pans. Place cake layers on a wire rack and allow cakes to cool to room temperature.
Once cakes have cooled to room temperature, cover cakes completely in food-safe plastic wrap (wrap each layer separately) and refrigerate cake layers for two hours. Chilled cakes are easier to decorate since they don’t crumble as easily.
Once cakes have been removed from the fridge, use a large serrated knife to cut the dome tops off both cakes so they both have a flat top. You won’t need these dome tops so feel free to snack on those while you work on the rest of the cake.