Or How My Grandma Would Call It: White Cake
This cake sits on your plate like a pillow on your bed - tall and proud, but perfectly fluffy and structured on the inside. I paired it with a Swiss meringue buttercream, which makes for a buttery, silky explosion once you drive the fork into your mouth.
Cali, Colombia. Summer of 2004
This recipe was handed down to me by my mom, who inherited it from none other than my grandma. I can still playback memories of my mom in the kitchen, baking this cake for my birthdays growing up. I always had two cakes though, this one and my grandma's signature chocolate cake. For my 7th birthday, I had requested chocolate chips inside the cake because I thought it would be an exceptional addition. However, one of the kids at my party did not think so. He approached my mom holding the paper plate on both hands, keeping the cake at a safe distance from his body. Then, he extended his arms and carefully slid the cake in front of my mom. He crinkled his nose, pursed his lips, and said he couldn't eat it because of the "yucky things inside." If only he knew those "yucky things inside" were actually chocolate, he wouldn't have had to miss out on the best gastronomic experience of his childhood. I will never forget that. That kid, to this day, is one of my closest friends.
Ingredients
290 g of flour
2 tbsp baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
150 g milk
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
250 g butter
280 g sugar
3 eggs
Method
STEP 0. Grease baking tin(s) with butter and dust with flour. Preheat oven to 180F (350 *C)
STEP 1. In a bowl, sift the flour and add baking powder and salt. Whisk together. In another bowl, mix together milk and vanilla extract. Set aside.
STEP 2. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Start on low speed and gradually increase to medium high until it becomes light in color and has a creamy and fluffy consistency. This is your chance to add air into the mixture, so make sure your butter and sugar cream properly. When mixture is creamed, with your mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs one at a time, and mix until well incorporated.
STEP 3. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients (flour mixture) and wet ingredients (milk and vanilla) alternating between each. You should do it in short bursts until just mixed. Do not over mix.
STEP 4. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin(s) and bake in oven for ~ 40 – 50 minutes, or until light golden brown and wooden skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs when inserted.
Notes on the Recipe:
This cake is quite pale in color. Don't let that fool you into over baking it.
I do not specify what size of baking tins you should use because I do not want to constrain your creativity. You can use any mold you want, in any shape or size. Just make sure that you have a good quantity of batter in your tin. I would say a good rule of thumb is to fill the mold 1 cm shy of the middle. If you're making these into cupcakes, fill them up as usual.
This cake is as simple as it gets. Plain old vanilla. This means it is perfect just as it is, but it is also basically a white canvas. You can add almost anything you can think of and make it your own. Citrus zests, chocolate chips, funfetti, nuts...just to name a few.
Not too many notes this time. This recipe is straightforward and it should be quite easy.
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