And be aware that, while butter provides better flavor, its a solid at room temperature, whereas oil is a liquid. That makes a big difference in baked goods, especially cakes. Oil is used often to produce a "moist" mouthfeel, even when the cake is chilled when eaten (which it should never be). Oil also extends the shelf-life temporarily.
You can, but know that vegetable oil contains 0% water, where butter consists of 80% butter fat, 18% water, and 2% milk solids. The difference is clearly in the water content. Gluten, the protein in flour, develops and strengthens in the presence of water. So, yes, you can replace the oil with melted butter, but understand that your cake will likely have a tougher texture due to the greater amount of water in the melted butter.
I consulted my dog-eared copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook (first edition was published in 1896), and the recipe in my edition (12th edition, 1979) uses butter.
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I consulted my dog-eared copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook (first edition was published in 1896), and the recipe in my edition (12th edition, 1979) uses butter.