Traditional Butter Cake

Tuesday is my birthday.  I'm not going to tell you how old I am going to be, well . . . you probably know that already, so there's really no point, and for those of you who don't . . . let me just say one word . . . old.  

I can't think of any better way to celebrate it than by baking myself a delicious cake.  A traditional butter cake is my choice of cakes when it comes to an occasion like this. You just cannot beat an old fashioned butter cake!



 They do say that  you are only as old as you feel. There are some days I feel sixteen, and there are some days I feel eighty.  I aim for somewhere in the middle most of the time!  

And sometimes I actually succeed!  I do feel somewhere in the middle. Its that first look in the mirror in the morning that knocks me back! haha




You might be tempted to think that my choice of a Birthday Celebration Cake would be something decadently fudgy and chocolatey.  I do love chocolate, but you would be wrong.  

Ever since I was a little girl my celebratory cakes have never been chocolate cakes . . . I do love them but . . . I have cakes that I love much more than that.  When I am wanting a cake I long for something moist and buttery, and flavoured with vanilla.




When I am celebrating I want something simple and delicious, like this traditional butter cake I am showing you here today.  

 If I am going to have to bake my own Birthday Cake (and I am coz my  husband . . . he doesn't bake!), then I don't want it to take me oodles of time and ingredients.  Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen on their birthday.




By the time you bake a cake that takes oodles of time and ingredients you don't feel like eating cake any more, and that's not my idea of a celebration!  

Is it yours??? I'm sorry if it is. I love to bake but that has its limits.  I also LOVE to be baked for.




On a day like this, I just want quick, easy, simple and . . . delicious.  This cake fits the bill on all of those counts. 

 No kidding. Would I like to you? I think not!




This has got to be one of the tastiest and simplest cakes ever going.   A simple Butter cake.  

You just dump everything into the bowl and beat it up.  Pop it into a slow oven and . . .  *Presto Chango* . . . one hour later . . .  Bob's your uncle!



Even the icing isn't complicated.  It's just icing sugar and water, or lemon juice, or orange juice . . . you decide.  

My husband doesn't like lemon, but I do.  It's my birthday, so this time we are going with lemon.



And a bit of ice cream on the side goes down very well too.  Enjoy!  I know I will!

In the UK they love lashings of custard with any kind of cake or dessert. On a birthday the North American in me longs for ice cream. Plain and simple, vanilla ice cream.

*A Butter Cake*
Makes one 8 inch round cake

Printable Recipe  

This is a simple, one bowl cake.  It's rich and delicious.  Easily adaptable to other flavours as well.  Nice served plain or spread with a basic icing.

 

125g butter, well softened (1/2 cup)

1 tsp vanilla extract

190g caster sugar (1 cup)

3 large free range eggs

210g of plain flour (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch salt

125ml of milk (1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2.   Butter an 8 inch round baking tin and line with baking paper.  Set aside.

Measure all of the ingredients into the bowl, sifting the flour, baking powder and soda in.  Add a pinch of salt.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed to combine, then increase the speed to high and beat until the mixture is just smooth.  Spread into your prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 5 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.  May be served plain or with a basic icing. 

Variations:

Coffee Butter Cake:  Dissolve 2 TBS instant coffee granules in 1 TBS boiling water and add as above

Orange Butter Cake:  Add 1 TBS finely grated orange zest.

Lemon Butter Cake :  Add 1 TBS finely grated lemon zest

Spiced Butter Cake:  Add 1 tsp either cinnamon or mixed spice.   

Basic Icing:

Sift 195g ( 1 1/2 cups) icing sugar into a bowl.  Mix through 2 TBS water or 2 TBS lemon juice, plus 1 tsp or lemon zest, or 2 TBS orange juice plus 1 tsp orange zest until you have a smooth mixture. Spoon over cake. 

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