This is a very forgiving cake and can be dressed up very easily by layering with yummy creams or ganaches depending on your needs or whim. And children will actually eat it, which is satisfying after you have spend two days and gone grey trying to turn it into a convincing replica of a power puff girl.
This quantity of cake fills one 23cm square cake tin. For most birthday cake designs you will most probably need to double your quantities.
Ingredients
- 250g plain flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 200ml buttermilk (or 75ml yoghurt mixed with 125ml milk)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or flavouring of your choice)
- 125g soft unsalted butter
- 200g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
Method
Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Line and grease your tin/s.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt together in a bowl.
Pour the buttermilk into a measuring jug and stir in the vanilla.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Lower the speed of your mixer (if you are using one, otherwise take a short break and come back with a slightly refreshed arm). Now add the eggs one at a time, making sure you beat them in for at least 30 seconds before adding the next.
Now add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture little bit by little bit in alternating increments. Blend well between additions. This will take about 5 minutes to do.
Pour the mixture into the tin/s and bake for approximately 40 minutes. (This will vary according to the tin you use, a dolly varden or similar large tin could take an hour or more.) When the cake is cooked it should pull away from the sides of the tin slightly, and a skewer will come out clean when plunged into the centre of the cake.
Let the cake cool for 10 to 20 minutes in the tin, then decant it and let it cool completely on a rack. It is easier to cut up into bits to make fancy pants kids’ birthday cakes if you make it the day before you decorate it.
Options
I have successfully turned this into chocolate cake by replacing some of the flour with cocoa, and into orange cake by adding some cointreau instead of vanilla.