Smother this delightfully tender and moist vanilla butter cake with lashings of whipped cream. The cake is made only with pantry staples and lasts several days without drying out thanks to utilising to the two-stage mixing method.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, Australian
Keyword Vanilla Butter Cake
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 40 minutesminutes
Servings 8people
Ingredients
125gramsunsalted buttersoftened
¾cup(132g) plain flour
¾cup(150g) granulated sugar
⅛cupcornflour/cornstarch(see notes below)
¼cupmilk
2largeeggs
1tspbaking powder
1tspvanilla
¼tspsalt
Whipped Cream Frosting
300mlthickened cream (whipping cream)
3tbspicing sugar (powdered sugar)
1tspvanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven 180 C / 350 F or 160 C /320 F fan forced.Butter and line the base of a 6 inch (15cm) cake pan with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, add milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Using an electric mixer, begin to beat in half the butter on low speed.Add remaining butter and mix on medium speed for 10-15 seconds. The batter should appear like wet sand.
Next add 1/3 of the egg mixture and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Repeat with remaining thirds until batter is fairly smooth.
Pour into cake pan and bake on the middle rack for 25 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean but moist.Set aside on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before inverting.
Meanwhile, using clean beaters, whip the frosting ingredients until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over whip as this will cause your cream to split/curdle.Cover the whipped cream and refrigerate until the cake has completely cooled.
Cover sides and top of cake with half the whipped cream to lock in crumbs (crumb coat). Do not attempt this when the cake is still warm as your cream will melt off immediately. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Also refrigerate remaining whipped cream. Once chilled, cover with remaining cream, smoothing sides and swirling the top, if desired.Top with flowers, berries, or seasonal fruits.
Notes
1 - You may double the ingredients to make a 2 layer, 8 inch cake. Doubling the frosting ingredients will be enough to fill between the layers as well.2 - This cake keeps for several days, stored in an air tight container in the fridge. Bring a slice to room temperature before serving. It may be kept out of the fridge in an air tight container if you choose not to frost it with the whipping cream.3 - The addition of cornflour is to replace the need for cake flour as it is not a pantry staple in most households. I cannot guarantee a velvety texture if you choose to skip the cornflour, but should you do this, replace it with more plain flour.