This butter cake recipe comes from Dinesh Rao who founded Tray Cafe, which arguably churns out some of the best butter cakes outside of a kopitiam. What makes this recipe stand out is the proportion of egg yolks to whites which creates a rich, luxurious crumb that is never too dense. Dinesh recommends using the highest quality butter you can find—so this is the time to splurge on high-fat European-style butter if you have access to it. You’ll really taste the difference.
Rich butter cake
by Dinesh RaoThis butter cake recipe comes from Dinesh Rao who founded Tray Cafe, which arguably churns out some of the best butter cakes outside of a kopitiam. What makes this recipe stand out is the proportion of egg yolks to whites which creates a rich, luxurious crumb that is never too dense. Dinesh recommends using the highest quality butter you can find—so this is the time to splurge on high-fat European-style butter if you have access to it. You’ll really taste the difference.
Servings: 8
Prep time: Slightly involved
Servings: 8
Prep time: Slightly involved
Ingredients
250g salted butter, room temperature
230g caster sugar
1 whole egg, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
½ egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
290g plain all-purpose flour
11g baking powder
½ tsp salt
175ml whole or full cream milk, room temperature
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
10″ by 6″ loaf tin OR an 8″ round tin OR an 8″ by 8″ square tin
Stand mixer
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease the baking tin with neutral oil or melted butter and line the tin with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. This should take between 8 to 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides and beater occasionally so that butter-sugar mixture is uniformly mixed.
- In a small bowl, beat all the eggs to combine the yolks and whites. Stream in eggs—a little at a time—on low speed. Beat until no lumps of egg are visible and the mixture is well incorporated. At this stage, switch your mixer to a medium-high speed and beat for 10 seconds. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Switch your mixer to its lowest speed and begin to add in 3-4 tbsp of flour followed by a splash of milk. Continue to alternate adding in flour and milk little by little until incorporated. Do not overmix at this stage. Once flour and milk are just mixed, stop the mixer and continue to fold bits of flour on the sides and bottom with a spatula or metal spoon.
- Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 60 minutes. If you find your cake is browning too quickly, loosely place a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the cake. Test the doneness of your cake by inserting a skewer or thin knife into the middle; if the skewer comes out clean, it is done.
- Place the baking tin on a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely in its tin before slicing and serving. The cake can be kept in an airtight container or tightly wrapped at room temperature for about 2 days.
Tips
- To make an orange butter cake, replace the same amount of milk with orange juice and substitute the vanilla extract with the zest of four oranges. Poppy seeds or almond nibs can also be folded into the batter.
Ingredients
250g salted butter, room temperature
230g caster sugar
1 whole egg, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
½ egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
290g plain all-purpose flour
11g baking powder
½ tsp salt
175ml whole or full cream milk, room temperature
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
10″ by 6″ loaf tin OR an 8″ round tin OR an 8″ by 8″ square tin
Stand mixer
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease the baking tin with neutral oil or melted butter and line the tin with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. This should take between 8 to 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides and beater occasionally so that butter-sugar mixture is uniformly mixed.
- In a small bowl, beat all the eggs to combine the yolks and whites. Stream in eggs—a little at a time—on low speed. Beat until no lumps of egg are visible and the mixture is well incorporated. At this stage, switch your mixer to a medium-high speed and beat for 10 seconds. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Switch your mixer to its lowest speed and begin to add in 3-4 tbsp of flour followed by a splash of milk. Continue to alternate adding in flour and milk little by little until incorporated. Do not overmix at this stage. Once flour and milk are just mixed, stop the mixer and continue to fold bits of flour on the sides and bottom with a spatula or metal spoon.
- Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 60 minutes. If you find your cake is browning too quickly, loosely place a sheet of aluminium foil on top of the cake. Test the doneness of your cake by inserting a skewer or thin knife into the middle; if the skewer comes out clean, it is done.
- Place the baking tin on a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely in its tin before slicing and serving. The cake can be kept in an airtight container or tightly wrapped at room temperature for about 2 days.
Tips
- To make an orange butter cake, replace the same amount of milk with orange juice and substitute the vanilla extract with the zest of four oranges. Poppy seeds or almond nibs can also be folded into the batter.
