Butter Cake Recipe

Anything is better with butter, says Chef Gene Gonzales.

I totally agree with Chef Gene. Butter is amazing. It can turn anything from good to best (three times over) but rarely it is the star of the show. If butter were an actor, it's usually cast as the best friend of the hero or heroine. It usually is delegated as the support. Much like what vanilla is to any other baking ingredient.

And so for this post, we're turning the spotlight to my much loved baking ingredient. Butter. We're making butter cake today. 

But before that...I can not wipe the silly nervous grin off my face because I am about to share three embarrassing pictures from the first time I made this cake. Yes, I have been toying with the idea of making an "ode to butter" post by making a butter cake for awhile now. The first time I made it, I used a fancy bundt pan. Oh my, little did I know it will not work! Wanna know why? Because the cake did not rise. At. All.

Here's the batter before I put it in the oven. 

And here's the after shot. It did not rise at all. After making this,  my friend Kat and I were talking about it and she told me, this special bundt pan requires certain recipes to make in it. Apparently, the butter cake recipe didn't agree with this pan. Too bad.

And look at this shot! Haha, too funny not to post, it looks like a tiger's paw doesn't it? Oh well, enough of my misadventures. Here's the recipe and how I was able to successfully make it. 

 Butter Cake Recipe
adapted from AllRecipes

What we need:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Here's how:
(1) Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

(2) Add eggs one by one. Make sure to beat eggs well before adding another one. 

(3) Sift/dry whisk flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add a third to the mixture.

(4) Add a half of the buttermilk. Repeat until all is combined.
(5) Heavily grease two 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" loaf pans (Note A: but any pan will do as long as just fill it up until its half full. Note B: Or you can also line the loaf pan with wax paper) divide the batter into two and bake for about 40 minutes or until done. 

The original recipe calls for a butter sauce you can soak the cake into but I opted not to make it.  I enjoyed the cake as it is but right now I all this talk about butter made me doubt my decision. Hmmm... it seems I need to make this cake one more time. 

Coffee Cake Recipe

Let clear things up. Coffee and I... Ahem... 

Coffee and I... well I don't know where I stand. Do I like or do I not like coffee? 

You see, when I was ten we moved three provinces north of Manila. This was where we lived. 

Living there was liked a dream. Sometimes, breakfast means going out (literally) at the back of the house and eat at a table under a mango tree. And sometimes, when I wake up early, I will make myself pale coffee or what I fondly call Coffee a la Aikko. Pale coffee is my version of coffee. Seeing that I was still young and coffee is really not yet allowed and so I would add way to much creamer so no one will really notice that I am drinking coffee. Ha! Probably the reason why I wasn't tall as I dreamt to be. 

Anyway, now that I am just a little older (and now allowed to drink coffee). I no longer crave it as much as I used to. I can get by staying up late without drinking coffee. So I was thinking, maybe coffee enjoyed in another form (ahemm.. cake) will revive my love for coffee. Here's a recipe from my Ma's recipe book. Hope you like it guys! :)

Coffee Cake Recipe

What we need:

3/4 cup walnuts or pecan

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons coffee granules (we didn't have coffee granules so I used the powder form and it worked just fine but Ma said granules work best)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Here's how:

(1) Combine walnuts, cinnamon and brown sugar. Set aside.

(2) Sift or dry whisk together flour, coffee granules, baking power, baking soda and salt. Combine sour cream and the vanilla extract.

(3) Mix together canola oil and sugar.

 (4) Add eggs one at a time.

(5) Add a third of the dry ingredients.

(6) Then one half of the wet ingredients (sour cream and vanilla extract). Continue until all is combined. Oh well, you know the drill :)

 (7) Heavily grease 2 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" loaf pans (Note A: but any pan will do as long as just fill it up until its half full. Note B: Or you can also line the loaf pan with wax paper) divide the batter into two and sprinkle the walnut/cinnamon/brown sugar mixture on top.

 (8) Bake for 40 minutes or until done.

So, do I like or do I not like coffee... hmmm.. maybe I like it cake form :)