Lite & Easy Butter Cake

This must be the easiest and yummiest cake to bake and enjoy.

Tis' being the season of Divali and Hari Raya, I was reminded of the mountaineous amount of sweets and goodies on our friends' coffee table when we made our visiting rounds.

The butter cake was always a feature but it was always oily, heavy and after eating 3 or more slices, as the Malays would say, we would feel so jelat.

This recipe's different: It's light, non-greasy and a definite success for the jittery first-time bakers.

15 mintues preparation time
1 hour cooking time

The Baker's Tool Box:

Large and deep 20cm round cake pan
Electric mixer
Big mixing bowl (a must have!)
Skewer

The Baker's Pantry:

125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 (275g) caster sugar
3 eggs
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1/2 cup (75g) self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Flour Up To My Elbows:

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow (140 to 160 degrees).

2. Grease the cake pan and line the base with baking paper.

3. Beat all the ingrediants in a large bowl on low speed with an electric mixer until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until mixture is smooth and changed to a paler colour.

4. Pour mixture into the prepared cake pan.

5. Bake for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes; depending on your oven. Insert a skewer in the middle of the cake when you think the cake's done and only remove the cake from the oven when the skewer comes out clean.

6. Stand the cake in the pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Turn the cake top-side up to cool.

Baker's tips:

1. The secret to a wonderfully smooth and moist butter cake is the mixture itself. So make sure you take some time mixing it well and ensuring that the mixture is smooth and a golden yellow.

2. The cake can be done in less than an hour so make sure you keep a careful eye on your cake.

3. Use a large and deep baking pan to avoid getting an ugly looking cake with cracks in the middle.

4. Always use the skewer method!

5. If you would like your cake to have a slight caramel flavour, substitute the caster sugar for 295g of firmly packed brown sugar.

There: Easy, ain't it?

Enjoy munching!

Tags: light butter cake baked budget recipe