Vanilla Cake with Butter Icing

When making cakes, I always use real butter.  It gives the cake a wonderful taste and moisture.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup full cream milk


Method:

Heat the oven to 200C (400F). Lightly coat a 20cm (8") cake pan with butter and dust with flour.
Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Beat in the butter one heaping 1/4 teaspoonful at a time, using an electric mixer set on low speed, until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
Beat in the sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture resembles fine damp sand.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add the vanilla and milk, and beat on medium-high, just until blended. Do not overbeat.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean — 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Un-mold and cool completely.
Cut horizontally into two halves
With a palette knife, smear butter icing onto one half and  then sandwich the two halves together
Decorate the top and sides with remaining butter icing.

Butter Icing

Ingredients:

120g butter
300g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Sieve icing sugar to break lumps.

In a separate bowl, cream butter till soft. Add icing sugar, a little at a time, beating continuously. Add vanilla and continue beating until icing is creamy and fluffy.

Variation:

Chocolate butter icing:
Add 3 – 4 tsp of sifted cocoa powder to the icing above and beat until the cocoa powder is well blended in the icing.

Coffee butter icing:
Prepare the butter icing as above, but omit vanilla essence. Instead, add 1 tsp of instant coffee powder diluted in ¼ tsp water into the icing. Beat well.

Mocha butter icing:
Add 4 tsp of sifted cocoa powder into the coffee butter cream above. Beat well.