Simple Butter Cake!

Its been a while since I posted a cake recipe on the blog. Nearly a year almost.

Why haven’t I baked in all this while…. Well call it my bane. The proverbial Achilles heel.  After a couple of baking attempts went put; I thought it would be better if I could focus on eating a cake, than baking one.

The plan worked, till a reader wrote requesting if I could post a simple butter cake recipe. I discussed with a few friends who bake and they said it was pretty simple. I tweeted to another round of encouragement from folks. I wrote back to the reader saying I’d post the recipe. The good thing, there was time on hand. So, I searched for a simple recipe that would fit the brief. I was so spoilt for choice that I didn’t know which to choose. I narrowed down one and sent it to a friend for authentication. He sent it back with recommended changes.

So, preps done and I now was ready to face the music. I started whisking the butter gingerly, much like Sachin Tendulkar’s nervous edge down to third man to get off the mark. But as I covered the steps in the recipe, the confidence in process and myself start to increase. You need to love baking, experienced and professional bakers told me. I was now beginning to love the process. I did see the batter coming out just as my friend described it would.  I was happy. The tin was dusted and prepared. In went the batter. I had a few walnuts that I had saved from an earlier dish and felt they would give a nice crunch to the cake. In they went. But now was the true test. Waiting for the cake to bake. Believe you me those thirty five minutes seemed like and endless Rahul Dravid innings. Finally, the timer went off and I dashed off the oven as if my life depended on it.  It passed the skewer test. Now too wait for another few minutes, till it cooled completely. It finally did.

As I cut through each slice, the delicate cake was perfect. You will have to excuse the pictures, since it was a quick photo shoot. Trust me, the cake was inviting.

We enjoyed the cake with coffee. And yes, I did send the recipe to my reader who wrote

Dear Elson,

I did try the cake recipe you sent me. It was heavenly. Sheer buttery goodness.

Guess I will now use this cake to show off to all my friends that I too can bake. Thanks a lot for the trouble.

Shall also be trying the Fish Coastal Biryani soon. I’ll write and let you know how it turned out to be.

Do keep satiating our hungry souls till then.

It encouraged me to start a series for readers request recipe. Should you have a recipe that you want me to feature on the blog, please feel free to drop in a line on my email address thetummytale@gmail.com or stop by at my Facebook Page. There’s a lot happening there too.

Meanwhile, here is the recipe for the cake.

Simple Butter Cake

Ingredients:

• 150 grams butter, (preferably unsalted)
• 125 grams, powdered sugar
• 125 grams, all purpose flour
• 3 medium sized eggs
• 1 teaspoon, baking powder
• 15 ml milk
• few drops of vanilla essence
• Some extra butter and flour for lining the tin
• 8-10 drops of flavoring essence of your choice (Optional, I skipped this)
• A few mixed nuts, for laying out on top of the cake.

 Procedure

• Brush an 8 inch baking tray with butter; then dust if with sufficient flour and keep aside.
• Next, sift the flour and baking powder together at least 3 times and keep aside.
• Preheat oven at 100 C for about 10 mins
• Using an electric mixer on a high speed cream the butter till it changes its colour to off white.
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and start adding the sugar in small batches. Continue this till the sugar and butter have combined well.
• Add the eggs, one at a time and continue mixing. 
• Now, stop the mixer and start folding the flour in small batches, like we did for the sugar. Combine well using a spatula. Add the milk and vanilla essence.
• Gently pour this batter in the prepared tin, spread the nuts on the batter and bake for about 30 minutes. Use the tooth pick/ skewer test to check for the doneness
• When its entirely done, allow it cool for another 20 minutes.
• Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee

Note:

Please note that 30 minutes is indicative. The baking time may increase or decrease, depending on your oven's brand.