Buttery Birthday

It's my father-in-law's birthday and since I've become the official cake supplier in the family, I had the task of baking his birthday cake. He is a simple sort of guy, and his taste for cakes reflect the same. The good ole Butter Cake.

I never thought much about butter cakes, they seem plain and uninspiring. But now that I bake, I've come to realise it is DAMN difficult to bake a good butter cake - the sort that oozes buttery fragrance, makes anything it comes into contact with oily and melts in the mouth. You'd usually find such cakes at old fashioned confectionery shops - one of my childhood favourite is Balmoral at Sunset Way, they make a mean butter cake but I don't think their recipe is something you can google.

The recipes I've tried so far yield a decent butter cake but it doesn't have that decadent oiliness no matter how much butter is used (in proportion of course). The texture and taste is always best when you have it shortly out of the oven. Once it's cooled, it tends to be more crumbly than moist.

Well, I'm still working on finding the best recipe. The older folks tend to request for it and the kids love it too so I'm going to work at perfecting it. Sure helps that I love butter very much!

Golden Churn butter was used in the father-in-law birthday cake...

When it comes to butter cakes, I only use SCS or Golden Churn - they really have the best flavour.

I couldn't really cover this cake - it's already quite rich as it is, so it wouldn't do well with icing. But it is a birthday cake after all, so I piped some cream cheese frosting frills and practiced my chinese calligraphy - "shou" is longevity in chinese - goes down well with the FIL!

Then I got carried away with the candles and it looks a bit like a clown cake in the end, but hey! the grandkids will be the ones blowing the candles out anyway and they love it!

Here's the recipe from rasamalaysia.com

Ingredients:

2 and 1/3 stick (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 oz (200g) plain flour/all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
7 oz (200g) castor sugar
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
4 tablespoons fresh milk or yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Lightly grease the pan with some butter.

3. Mix the flour and the baking powder together and sieve. Add in salt and mix well. Set aside.

4. Use an electronic beater to mix butter and sugar until well combined or pale yellow in color. (Note: Sugar has not dissolved yet).

5. Add in the first egg. Beat well after each addition of egg until creamy.

6. Scrape down the sides for even mixing.

7. Add in vanilla essence and mix well.

8. Fold in the flour into the mixture and mix well.

9. Finally, add in the milk/yogurt.

10. Pour the mixture into the greased baking pan. Shake it lightly to distribute cake mixture evenly.

11. Bake until golden brown and cooked, about 40 minutes. Use a cake tester to test if it’s cooked.

12. Remove it from the oven and let cool on the wire rack for another 5 minutes. Serve warm.

If you know a great butter cake recipe, share it with me here. I'd be ever grateful!