Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Mrs.NgSK's Vanilla Butter Cake

This is not the 1st time I bake Butter Cake. But, this is a special one. The recipe that I'm gonna stick to it. To look at, I'll grant you, this is not a joyous creation, but moist and old-fashioned taste is all the more heightened for being unforeseen. I like that.

This butter cake has it's story behind. But it's too long winded to write it here. I'm gonna make it short - I had this cake before, during my schooling time at my hometown. One of my school-mate's mother baked this, and they offered me a piece of butter cake that taste really awesome. At that time, I thought that was the BEST butter cake ever! My taste-bud can be quite picky sometimes. If it is really nice, I will never forget the taste. This butter cake is one of them.

Wendy from http://www.wendyinkk.blogspot.sg/ and I are from the same school. She's my senior. Recently, she posted a butter cake called Mrs NgSK's Butter Cake recipe in her blog that makes me really wanna try. And I thought this might be the long-lost taste that I'd been looking for. I'm unsure. By looking at the picture, I'm really not sure if it is the one that I ate during my schooling time. Butter cake looks about the same on the picture lah. Yellow color loh. Hahaha... But Wendy mentioned that Mrs NgSK (the recipe originator) is from Kampar. Same home-town! So I thought this might be the one. Even if it is not the one, I thought, no harm trying also, coz the butter cake looks really good and old-fashioned type. So, I give it a try.


Butter cake is a cake that I will not bake often. Seriously not that often. Not that I don't like butter cake. I adore butter cake alot. But I try really hard to refrain myself. It's simply because butter cake is really really sinful! Although I'm not a health freak, but butter cake contain whole block of butter okay? I don't know about others, but whenever I bake butter cake, the whole block of butter is straight in the mixer. Nothing left-over.

Sinful? Just close one eye...

Because of high content of butter in the cake, I always make sure I get myself a block of good butter (eg. Lurpak, President or SCS). Please don't use cheap butter. I always believe you get what you paid for.

Ingredients
250g Salted Butter, room temperature.
200g Eggs (no shell) - About 4 eggs (Grade B).
50g + 150g Castor Sugar
200g Self raising flour, sifted
60ml Fresh Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Note :
1. Wendy used 230g butter for this cake only. But I used 250g. Because I'm lazy, I just close my eyes and throw in the whole block of butter.
2. I used Seng Choon eggs for all my cake baking. 4 eggs weighed about 240g (with shell)
3. I used Magnolia fresh milk.
4. I don't have Vanilla Pod nor Vanilla Paste at home. So, I just play-cheat. Used Vanilla Essence instead. I feel bad about it.

Method
1. Pre-heat oven at 180C (Conventional).

2. Prepare a 8 x 8 inch square pan. Line the base, grease the sides.

3. Separate egg whites & yolk. Beat egg whites until soft peaks, gradually add 50g sugar and beat until stiff.

4. Cream butter and 150g sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in Vanilla essence, beat for awhile, and followed by egg yolks one at a time.

5. Put in half the flour and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add in milk in 2 additions and mix until well incorporated. Mix in balance flour.

6. Put in half the egg whites in and mix on low speed. Pour the balance egg whits in and FOLD using your spatula.

7. Pour batter into pan and level.

8. Bake for 45minutes or until skewer comes out clean. You might to increase the baking time for another 10mins if you are not confident enough. Do it with your guts feeling. 45mins baking time is just an indication. Different oven gives different result.


You know what? after baking for 35mins, I saw a crack on my cake!!!!
For instance, my heart cracked too. In my heart, I was like "Oh no!!! This shouldn't be cracking!!!" :(


I quickly reduce the heat to 150C for the last 10minutes to prevent it from cracking further. But I think, in overall, 170C was okay. Wendy used 170C, and her cake turned out fine, but she did reduce to 150C after 30minutes bake too. 

Luckily the crack doesn't gives major problem. Still looks okay. I like the height of the cake. Although the side is abit charred. Still, I love it! For no reason, I don't know why, I love eating burnt cakes. That's why I always like eating the corner part of the cake.


Cut them into 3 portion....



Slice them accordingly. But I could guarantee you, this is really a tough job to stop my saliva from dripping. The aroma of the freshly baked butter cake is really so damned I tell you!


Look at the middle part of the cake. You could see the crack. I'm pretty sure I got to reduce the temperature from 180 degree to 170 degree, and I'm gonna use Vanilla Pod next time. I promise.


I really have to highlight this... This cake is the cake that I had during my schooling time! It's THE SAME CAKE!!! Me and Wendy had a chat over facebook today and the more we shared info to each other, the knot tied up. When she asked if I ate this cake at Taman Julong during my schooling time, this hit the spot! I'm sure that I had this Mrs Ng SK's Butter Cake before!

THIS IS THE CAKE!!!

Okays.. I'm over-reacted. But, I feel very happy!

In future, when I have my own kids, I will make sure I bake this for them, and tell them how delicious this butter cake is. And of course, while they are enjoying this cake, I will tell them the story about this is old-fashioned butter cake that I've eaten during my child-hood time.

Those who look at life rather than taking a bite out of it are not deserving of the pleasure they deny themselves. This is butter cake. Yummm~ ~ ~ 

I really really love this!


I bring some to my office and share with my colleagues. All of them loves it.

I'm so so so soooooooo happy!!! :D

Thanks to Mrs NgSK for this awesome recipe, and I have to give a real big-bear-hugs to Wendy for sharing it on her blog. Without Wendy, I think I won't be able to eat this cake again.

So, please try it! You won't regret :)

But please be warned, this is a highly addictive "one-is-never-enough" cake. Hahahah!!!!

38 comments:

  1. LOL.
    Eh, why you didn't insert the part where... the friend's mom who baked the cake you can't forget could actually be the best friend of MrsNgSK? I really suspect that it's Mrs Khoo la.

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  2. oh yes.... even though it bulged up in the oven, but it's still so flat after cooling.
    Nice attempt!
    good for you

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  3. Wendy, maybe loh. I seriously can't recall who gave me that cake. Hahaha... And yep. When i saw the cake bulged up so high, I was kinda worried at the beginning.

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  4. Hi Annie, this butter cake really look so nice! oh gosh, do you think it is possible to use the same recipe but in a HCP?

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  5. Hi Angela, I never tried baking this using HCP. It might works. But I know the texture would be different. I did experiment before. A batch of cake, half baked using HCP, and the other half goes to the oven. Texture comes out different. It applies to all types of cake, because HCP is originally not meant for baking. So, if you want to achieve the texture that you see here, I would advise you to stick to oven method :)

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  6. I love butter cake and tried the recipe, somehow mine looked dense and a bit like wet looking at the bottom. Baked for 45mins. Can you pls tell me where did I go wrong?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, based on your description, there might be 2 possibilities - Your cake under-cooked and still wet? Temperature got problem?

      1. You might have over-mixed your cake batter, and beaten all the egg whites bubbles down. So, cake turned out dense and didnt rise to it's perfection.

      2. If you over-beat your egg whites, you will end up get a separated stiff egg white + a pile of water at the bottom too.

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  7. Dear, thanks for your recipe..I bake it yesterday night..the taste is so good however the bottom is not charred, quite white in colour and taste bit wet, not so high as u..what's go wrong? Is it the same problem as unknow? Thx!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Pinnky, Maybe your cake underbake. Different oven has different temperament. Maybe next time you could try baking it slighly longer :)

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  8. Hello, thank you so much for your recipe. I try baking one. Hmmm..,, very delicious, my hubby and kids like it very much. There is one thing that i need your advise, after eating the cake, there seem to be like a layer of "siap siap" in your mouth. Why could have cause it? Thank you

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, I couldn't visualize the problem that you described. Maybe you could send me a photo of your cake? Is the cake texture that gives you problem? or is the taste of the cake?

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  10. Hi, if I do not have a 8 x 8 inch tin but one 20cm round tin, do I have to reduce the quantity?

    Thank you

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, Sorry for my late reply. If you don't have 8 x 8 inch square tin, the equivalent of round tin would be 23cm Round or 9 inch Round.

      As a general rule of thumb, a square tin holds approximately 25% more than a round tin of the same size, therefore reduce the round cake tin size between 2cm and 2.5cm (±1 inch) to arrive at the equivalent size of a square tin.

      All in all, if you are having 20cm round tin, it is actually equivalent to 7 x 7 inch square tin size. So, you have to reduce ALL the ingredients by 23.4% (eg. 250g Butter can make 8 x 8 inch square tin. So, 191.5g Butter is needed for 7 x 7 inch square tin or 20cm round tin)

      I hope it helps :)

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  12. Oh my god. This is INDEED the BESTEST butter cake ever. Buttery cake yet as light and fluffly as a butter cake can be. Wow. Thanks for sharing. Mrs NgSK's Vanilla Butter Cake

    Also, I wanted to let you know a few things that I did differently:
    - I replaced the self rising flour with all purpose flour (200 grams); and using a formula I found online that says that each cup of self rising flour has 1 ½ tsp of baking powder, I added 2 tsp ¼ baking powder to my flour. After weighing flour at 200 grams, it was the equivalent of about 1 ½ cup so 1 ½ tsp X 1 ½ cup = 2 ¼ tsp baking powder.
    - Out of convenience, I used 2 sticks of butter, and here in the US each stick of butter is about 114 grams so it was a total of 228 grams which is close to the 230 grams asked for in original recipe.
    - I used 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract and added maybe ¼ tsp grated lemon zest.
    - I baked it for 45 minutes at 335 degrees F (close to 170 celcius which is 338 degrees and my oven only allows degrees that end with “0” or “5”) and then about 9 minutes at 300 degrees F (close to 150 celcius which is 302 degrees F).
    A delight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. it is a childhood indulgence of mine too! Now, I seldom have it. but reconnecting with your childhood taste brings back such a warm feeling. How lucky of your colleagues to have you!

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    Replies
    1. Vi Vian Woo, do bake some for yourself! It's okay to indulge abit sometimes :)

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  14. i really enjoy reading this butter cake post.... so funny hehe... nevertheless well done on the butter cake! look really good :) yumm!

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  15. Hello, may I know if it is feasible to make a rainbow cake with this recipe? This recipe suits a 9 inch round pan ? :) how tall will the cake be? Thanks!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Xin, thanks for visiting my blog. I'm not sure about the rainbow cake tho :)

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  16. Hi, Your cake looks delicious. Can u advise me, can I add 2 tsp of coffee powder to the milk mixture as I am fans of coffee? Can I sprinkle some chopped walnut on top, do I need to tasted it first

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, Any modifications on recipe is absolutely depends on individual preference :)

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  17. hi, can I double or triple the recipe? what do I need to do differently

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  18. hi can I double or triple the recipe to fit bigger pan what should I do differently? thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, If you intend to triple the recipe, it is highly advisable for you to bake 3 cakes instead. Bake them one by one :)

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  19. Great cake! We loved it very much! Thanks for sharing it...

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  20. Hi Thank you for sharing this recipe. I tried baking the cake today. My cake has a dome in the centre towards the end of baking cycle .Should it rises flat all the time ? I always have this problem with baking .Please advise. Thank you

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  21. can i use as fondant cover with 2 tier cake?

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  22. Hello Annielicious,

    How are you? I tried baking this cake a few times. Have not been successful. The last time the cake came out, flat and beautiful. Was so excited. However, when i cut the cake, it has
    1) Holes
    2) Feels dense and not fluffy as yours.
    3) Uneven patches

    I wish i can send you pictures of my cake. Any idea why my cake is not fluffy and crumbly like yours?
    Thank you.

    Penny

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  23. My mum made this cake for Christmas and birthdays when I was young and now I do too. Thanks for the recipe and details.

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  24. Hi Annie,

    Thanks for sharing this amzing recipe. Just wondering how do you cut the top of the cake into many tiny squares / checker shape?

    Thanks so much!

    Cheers,
    Ally

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  25. Is it ok for me to double the recipe and divide them into four disposable aluminum loaf tin & bake them at the same time? Will this affect the baking time? Please advise. Thanks
    Jesline

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