butter loaf cake

time to break review programming a bit and bring you a slice of cake. this cake is the second favourite of my parents (after the lemon cake, which is their favourite, as well as my partner’s) and is a very asian type of cake – that is to say that it is very simple in flavours and quite basic, but with a moist crumb and not too sweet.

this is also a very simple cake to make, and don’t let the first picture scare you with its amount of butter and eggs (as I was making about three different sizes of this cake to give away to relatives). the cake requires just creaming butter with sugar, before mixing in a bit of flour and milk to turn out an oh-so-buttery and moist cake that bakes up glossy brown and very tasty.

as you can see, my mixing bowl when I’m back home in singapore is an old pot that my mother no longer uses, and I find it works very well – I think flexibility and a bit of creativity is very welcome in cooking and baking, so don’t worry too much and use what you have (and love!).

use the best butter you can find – and in asia that usually means using imported european butter – which will give you the most buttery-est smell in the kitchen.

my parents loved this cake, especially the browned tops and sides of this fabulously moist cake. the vanilla also shines through, so use some good stuff. you probably already have all these ingredients, so have a try at it!

butter cake (from Rasa Malaysia)

250g unsalted butter
200g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
190g castor sugar
4 eggs (I used medium)
0.5 tsp salt
4 tbsp fresh milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. preheat oven to 190C and butter and line a loaf tin well.
2. cream together the butter and sugar until pale yellow in colour, and add the eggs separately, beating well after each until creamy. remember to scrape the sides!
3. mix in the vanilla essence.
4. sieve in the flour, salt and baking powder; fold gently.
5. add the milk and fold in gently.
6. pour into the pan and use a spatula to spread it to the corners. bake until golden brown and cooked, about 40 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
7. cool in the pan for 5 minutes and try to stop yourself from finishing it all there and then!