Best Of: Butter Cake

[Gleep]

HI everyone. I'm so sorry for posting and then dropping off of the face of the earth. We've had birthdays, a vacation and a case of the martian death flu!

Anyway, here's my recipe if anyone's still interested.

9 oz sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

14 oz sugar

4 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup sour cream

4 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy and light in color. Add the sugar and continue to mix until fluffy and light. This step takes about 5 minutes.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, being sure each is well incorporated before adding the next one. Add the vanilla.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour. Be sure the mixture is completely blended after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat for 1 minute.

In a separate bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake in the preheated oven. The top of the cake should be nicely browned. Test for doneness with a skewer or a toothpick. The tester should come out dry. An 8 in round takes about 45 minutes, I rarely use a timer so this is my best guess.

[Dailey]

i was gonna give sarah's butter cake a try in the near future but am a bit hesitant. did i read correctly that this cake is best made in 9 inch pans? does it not bake well as a sheet cake or as a 12 inch cake, for example? i would love to hear anyone's experience with it.

[Manoras]

HI everyone. I'm so sorry for posting and then dropping off of the face of the earth. We've had birthdays, a vacation and a case of the martian death flu!

Anyway, here's my recipe if anyone's still interested.

9 oz sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

14 oz sugar

4 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup sour cream

4 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy and light in color. Add the sugar and continue to mix until fluffy and light. This step takes about 5 minutes.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, being sure each is well incorporated before adding the next one. Add the vanilla.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour. Be sure the mixture is completely blended after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat for 1 minute.

In a separate bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake in the preheated oven. The top of the cake should be nicely browned. Test for doneness with a skewer or a toothpick. The tester should come out dry. An 8 in round takes about 45 minutes, I rarely use a timer so this is my best guess.

Thanks for the recipe Gleep.I made this cake a few weeks ago and loved it. I think this is the alternative to a cake mix (as long as people don't want the chemical taste ) It has wonderful tight crumb, very soft and moist and very comparable to a cake mix in texture.

Actually, I made half the recipe the way it is written. Then another half recipe made with eggs mixed in whole and the last experiement was by mixing all dry ingredients and then adding the wet like in a mix. I took pics when they came out of the oven (hope I can post them). The first two cakes were a little higher than the last one, I guess creaming does help. I wrapped them and put them in the freezer and the next day cut them to look at the texture which was very similar. I didn't take any pictures though and put them back in the freezer. Anyway last night, I filled the first two cakes with strawberry filling and made a 4 layer cake and iced it and took it to a pot luck. Since the cakes had been sitting in the freezer not very well wrapped (coz when I wrapped them I was at the tail end of my plastic wrap roll ), I was afraid it might be dry, so I used a lot of simple syrup, maybe a tad bit much. But the cake was a big hit and everybody raved about how soft it was. I hope others have tried this cake too and would love to hear other reviews.

<img src="http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1127544468/gallery_19340_1815_61431.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 180px">

Click to Enlarge

Made according to method described in the recipe

<img src="http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1127544468/gallery_19340_1815_43365.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 180px">

Click to Enlarge

Made by adding whole eggs and not separated

<img src="http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1127544468/gallery_19340_1815_14667.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 180px">

Click to Enlarge

Made like box mix

<img src="http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/1127544468/gallery_19340_1815_54445.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 180px">

Click to Enlarge

Took pics of only the third experiment - mixed like a mix. I was happy with the result. Wish I had taken pics of the other two but I wasn't able to get a decent picture of the texture. This morning I took it outside in the yard and voila .

[skyflyer3]

Manoras, that cake looks great! Have you tried to compare it to Sarah's version?

[Ling]

I just pulled Gleep's butter cake out of the oven. Before doing the recipe, I guessed that it would be sweeter than Sarah's, and denser...it is in fact sweeter, but as Manoras posted upthread, it is very soft--almost cake-mix soft.

I do like the subtle tang from the sour cream in Gleep's recipe, but I prefer the taste and the structure of Sarah's cake. I also think Sarah's cake is more versatile, because it is not too sweet and thus can take on a number of frostings and fillings. Gleep's recipe is nice, but quite sweet--I imagine it would nice with a tart lemon curd, and a barely-sweetened lemon cream cheese frosting.

ETA: Gleep's cake is also richer, with a higher proportion of fat from the butter and the sour cream. I put the batter in an 8" pan and a 9" pan at 350 degrees; the 8" was done at 35 minutes, and the 9" was done at 45 minutes.

Edited October 23, 2005 by Ling (log)

[skyflyer3]

Sarah's cake was easy to put together but it didn't seem to have the flavor and texture that I'm looking for. Several tasters noted on their sheets that the flavor reminded them of corn bread. One taster also thought the texture was reminiscent of corn bread.

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I did Sarah's cake last night as cupcakes, and they turned out similar to corn bread as well. They were dense, there was a tender but solid crumb, but somehow they didn't taste much like cake. I'm wondering if I did something wrong. The only differences I can see in my recipe is that I used golden baker's sugar, and a subbed one cup of pastry flour for the AP. When I was scooping them into the papers, the scoops were solid but fluffy. As cupcakes, they were done in 25 minutes. They firmed up a bit overnight. I frosted them with an orange/milk chocolate (Cacoa Barry, excellent!) ganache, which paired with the cake wonderfully, but I wasn't achieving the texture that I wanted. I'll be trying Gleep's recipe next (although it does look mightily rich!) - is the cupcake format maybe not working for this recipe?

[Sarah Phillips]

Hi,

Thanks for trying my recipe. All I can tell you that is you have to follow the recipe. If you want to substitute the TYPE of flour and sugar types, expect some different results. That's pretty much my findings with most cake recipes.

The recipe calls for ALL PURPOSE FLOUR, not a mix of all-purpose and pastry flour, as you used....The all-purpose flour I used to develop the recipe with comes from the United States. The sugar used is table sugar.

The flour sub that you did -- of adding in pastry flour -- threw off the whole recipe. If you aren't going to follow MY recipe and use 100% all-purpose flour, then the whole recipe will be off! In essence, you are creating your own recipe, and commenting on your own creation, not mine.....If you are not using the sugar called for in my recipe, then you are creating your own...

I appreciate your trying to experiment, but you have to understand that when you do, you are creating your own recipe and not testing mine.

I do have a member of baking911.com, Berta L. who does change flavorings in the cake recipe which much success, but note she isn't changing a major ingredient, such as the TYPE of flour! Read about it on the bottom of my recipe: http://baking911.com/recipes/cakes/butterc...ow_ultimate.htm

I named the recipe variations after Berta L because they are her recipes for which she deserves the credit!

Edited November 23, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[skyflyer3]

Hi Sarah - I've subbed pastry flour and golden baker's sugar in many cake recipes with very subtle changes to the results prior to this recipe, and I honestly don't think the use of golden baker's sugar would affect the texture of this cake much. I usually use superfine bleached sugar for all my baking, but am switching to the golden version (superfine as well) per Rose Levy Berenbaum's recommendations to enhance flavor. I've also subbed pastry flour for AP successfully when I want a lighter texture to my cakes, which is why I did it in this recipe. What I'm surprised about is that I had what seems to be similar results to Gleep, who I assume followed your instructions and ingredients as instructed. It's possible that the texture that everyone is raving about is what I've achieved - it may just be different than what I expected. I'm looking for the flavor of pound cake with white cake texture, and that's what I thought this recipe would be - and maybe that's what Gleep's recipe will be for me.

Day two of the cupcakes - smoother in flavor and texture, very buttery, dense, but still a little reminiscent of cornbread. It isn't as dense as pound cake - has a more open crumb. Not too sweet.

[Dailey]

i've been wanting to try the "ultimate butter cake", maybe for x-mas. i was thinking about subtituting some oil for the butter since butter cakes tend to dry out quickly, anyone try this? i did try the strawberry version of this cake and it didn't turn out despite the fact that i followed the recipe to a tee , i'm still on the hunt for the perfect strawberry cake.

[BakerLady]

Hi Dailey,

I ran across these new flavors for the butter cake and was intrigued to try them since I love the ultimate butter cake. I made the strawberry cake yesterday, and thought it was divine! It was all gone by this morning! What didn't turn out for you? This is by far the best from scratch strawberry recipe I have tried so far.

BTW, I love this forum!

Jane

[BakerLady]

Hi,

I don't know if anyoneis still interested but I thought I would post that I made the Egg Nog cake from the Ultimate Butter cake yesterday. It was really good! It is a perfect holiday cake especially if you like egg nog. It is one of the variations Sarah Phillips has on her site.

Jane

[Sarah Phillips]

Thank you, Jane. Berta L. invented all of those wonderful recipe flavor variations using my Ultimate Butter Cake Recipe as the base! She deserves all the credit! If anyone is interested, they are on http://www.baking911.com/recipes/cakes/but...ow_ultimate.htm Enjoy!

[kaneel]

I am baking the eggnog version of ultimate butter cake with crumb topping .

I've cut back the sugar by 1/2 cup since the eggnog was already sweet.

Let you know how it will come out.

Ashiana

[foodiehall]

Here's the recipe:

The Ultimate (Yellow) Butter Cake Recipe

Makes 2, 9-inch cakes.

Recipe By :Sarah Phillips, Baking 9-1-1, Simon and Schuster, c 2003

I created the Ultimate Butter Cake to be a rich, moist and tender treat because I was tired of eating dry, flavorless cakes. It has a fine to medium crumb in texture and is somewhat dense, but much lighter than a pound cake. Many brides have selected this for use in a wedding cake because it can be made in so many flavors (and is quite flavorful) and doesn't need a lot of trimming. It can be easily filled and frosted with many types of recipes and decorated or served plain with fruit. It's now my family's favorite all-occasion cake! 

.........

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I baked this cake for the first time for my mom's birthday this past weekend. The end result was a beautiful, delicious cake which drew many raves and compliments. I'm just an amateur cake-baker (really more into yeast breads and cookies) so my question will probably sound lame to the pros out there, but here goes: my only problem, which was later concealed by the frosting, was the presence of a slightly crusty overhang of cake around the edges of the pans when I removed them from the oven. Once the cake cooled, I carefully broke them off which left an uneven edge around the cake. What causes this overhang....too much batter in the pan? Some other problem? As I said, there was no "problem" with the end result, but I don't want to ruin a future cake by having to remove too much overhang.

Thanks for your help.........Cheryl

[kaneel]

I made the ultimate buttercake back in december. I cut the sugar back because i made the eggnog variation with the eggnog being already sweet. I added some freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon and topped it with crumb topping. Moist and buttery with a hint of eggnog flavor

Edited April 13, 2006 by kaneel (log)

[MonaPizza]

Hi,

Thanks for trying my recipe. All I can tell you that is you have to follow the recipe. If you want to substitute the TYPE of flour and sugar types, expect some different results. That's pretty much my findings with most cake recipes.

The recipe calls for ALL PURPOSE FLOUR, not a mix of all-purpose and pastry flour, as you used....The all-purpose  flour I used to develop the recipe with comes from the United States. The sugar used is table sugar.

The flour sub that you did -- of adding in pastry flour --  threw off the whole recipe. If you aren't going to follow MY recipe and use 100% all-purpose flour, then the whole recipe will be off! In essence, you are creating your own recipe, and commenting on your own creation, not mine.....If you are not using the sugar called for in my recipe, then you are creating your own...

I appreciate your trying to experiment, but you have to understand that when you do, you are creating your own recipe and not testing mine.

I do have a member of baking911.com, Berta L. who does change flavorings in the cake recipe which much success, but note she isn't changing a major ingredient, such as the TYPE of flour! Read about it on the bottom of my recipe: http://baking911.com/recipes/cakes/butterc...ow_ultimate.htm

I named the recipe variations after Berta L because they are her recipes for which she deserves the credit!

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I've been baking some cakes lately and I have a question regarding substitutions. How does buttermilk affect a cake compared to regular milk? If I were going to substitute buttermilk would I have to make any other modifications? I ask because I have a recipe for a lemon cake that I really like that calls for buttermilk and I was wondering how to best modify it into a butter/vanilla cake and/or chocolate cake if possible. Thanks for your help and I can't wait to try your butter cake recipe soon as well!

[devlin]

I've been baking some cakes lately and I have a question regarding substitutions.  How does buttermilk affect a cake compared to regular milk?  If I were going to substitute buttermilk would I have to make any other modifications?  I ask because I have a recipe for a lemon cake that I really like that calls for buttermilk and I was wondering how to best modify it into a butter/vanilla cake and/or chocolate cake if possible.  Thanks for your help and I can't wait to try your butter cake recipe soon as well!

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After reading the last few pages of this thread yesterday I was determined to make the Ultimate Butter Cake right away. I thought I had milk, but all I had was cream and buttermilk. So after a quick search, I discovered that when substituting buttermilk for cow's milk in baked goods, using one cup as the base measurement for milk, it's a one to one subsitute for the milk, but you need to add 1/2 tsp baking soda and substract 2 tsp baking powder from the required amount in the recipe.

Anway, I made the cake, using Ling's topping and substituting the buttermilk, as instructed above.

Although I understand from the conversation that the substitution may dramatically alter the original, I gotta tell you this is one fabulous cake. Or, rather, two! Wow.

[MonaPizza]

I've been baking some cakes lately and I have a question regarding substitutions.  How does buttermilk affect a cake compared to regular milk?  If I were going to substitute buttermilk would I have to make any other modifications?  I ask because I have a recipe for a lemon cake that I really like that calls for buttermilk and I was wondering how to best modify it into a butter/vanilla cake and/or chocolate cake if possible.  Thanks for your help and I can't wait to try your butter cake recipe soon as well!

←

After reading the last few pages of this thread yesterday I was determined to make the Ultimate Butter Cake right away. I thought I had milk, but all I had was cream and buttermilk. So after a quick search, I discovered that when substituting buttermilk for cow's milk in baked goods, using one cup as the base measurement for milk, it's a one to one subsitute for the milk, but you need to add 1/2 tsp baking soda and substract 2 tsp baking powder from the required amount in the recipe.

Anway, I made the cake, using Ling's topping and substituting the buttermilk, as instructed above.

Although I understand from the conversation that the substitution may dramatically alter the original, I gotta tell you this is one fabulous cake. Or, rather, two! Wow.

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Devlin,

Thanks for letting me know! I've been baking like crazy lately and in the past week I made the crumbcake variation and the original butter cake with a chocolate frosting - both were excellent! You should visit Sarah's website too - there's TONS of info on there and an ASK SARAH forum where you can get answers to any of your cake questions...it's a great place to pick up a lot of great tips!

[Sarah Phillips]

Thanks guys for the wonderful complimets! Have you tried my Ultimate Chocolate Butter Cake Recipe, yet? I'd love to hear some feedback! http://www.baking911.com/recipes/cakes/but...te_ultimate.htm

I no longer answer questions over here, so that's why I haven't been responding to yours -- sorry! Thanks, again for the nice comments !! ~

Edited May 19, 2006 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[devlin]

The Ultimate (Yellow) Butter Cake Recipe

Recipe By :Sarah Phillips, Baking 9-1-1, Simon and Schuster, c 2003

The cake is a good keeper, keeping several days at room temperature well-wrapped in plastic wrap or frozen for up to two or three months, wrapped in plastic and then placed in an airtight bag or container.

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I've never frozen cakes, and am wondering how you handle the cake after it's been frozen. Simply take it out for a couple of hours to thaw at room temp?

And will the texture be as good as it would be if it hadn't been frozen?

[CanadianBakin']

Edited June 14, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[kaneel]

I have frozen cakes but never care for the taste. I a fine tong i can taste the aftertaste(((((.I have wrapped it in so much plastic wrap then put it in a ziploc bag and stillll((((

[Sarah Phillips]

I've never frozen cakes, and am wondering how you handle the cake after it's been frozen. Simply take it out for a couple of hours to thaw at room temp?

And will the texture be as good as it would be if it hadn't been frozen?

I can't answer how the quality will be although I've got a few I'm going to freeze tonight so I'll know in a few days. As to thawing, you leave it wrapped and put it in the fridge for a couple hours. Unwrap only after thawing. The condensation will stay on the wrapping instead of making the cake soggy.

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Hi CanadianBakin"

Thanks for trying my cake recipe! Just a quick tip! Don't thaw the cake in the refrigerator -- rather thaw this cake at room temperature in its wrappers. I noticed on another thread that you thawed another cake in the refrigerator and ended up with "no crumb". It's not the cake that causes it, but rather the "home refrigerator" environment that you are putting the cake into.....

[devlin]

Fabulous.... Thanks a bunch Sarah. And again for your gorgeous butter cake.

[Sarah Phillips]

Fabulous.... Thanks a bunch Sarah. And again for your gorgeous butter cake.

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You are more than welcome! ~