My friend at the gym asked me how to make the kind of butter cake that look and feel like pound cake. While pound cake is actually just a pound each of four main ingredients of sugar, butter, flour and eggs, I normally add 20% more butter to make it a butter cake.
Today, I do it slightly differently. I kept everything the same as in a pound cake and reduced the flour instead. The result is a really moist cake.
I made it twice as well. Once with a standard creaming method, adding whole eggs to the creamed butter and sugar. Another is adding only egg yolks to the creamed butter, and then make a meringue and fold the meringue into the butter mixture.
The whole eggs method is more stable, can all be done in one bowl, holds the shape really well, and slightly dryer. The meringue version is more moist and needs a bit more washing.
Conclusion? Give the very little difference, I’d go for the easier method that requires less washing!
Earl Grey and Lime Butter Cake
Equipment
- 15cm cake pan, bottom lined
Ingredients
- 160 g salted butter at room temperature
- 160 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 120 g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp earl grey dust (from tea bags)
- 20 ml lime juice
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 170C.
- Cream butter and sugar until very pale yellow.
- Add all the eggs, one at a time, beating until the mixture is creamy before adding the next egg.
- Fold in the self=raising flour, lime juice and tea dust. Make sure the batter is well-mixed.
- Pour the batter into the pan and place the cake onto the lowest shelf in the oven for 40 minutes
