Butter Cake

Time to indulge my sweet tooth once again and work towards cooking everything found in my Donna Hay cookbook. Today's choice: a butter cake. Easy to make and very adaptable to a multitude of situations. Frost it with different flavors or add different spices and extracts to the batter to change it up. I added an orange glaze to mine. The first time I've frosted a cake without using the store bought stuff. Here's the basic recipe:


Butter Cake

• 4 oz butter, very well softened


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 cup caster sugar


• 3 eggs


• 1 1/2 cups plain flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 300F. Place all ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on a low speed until combined. Increase the speed to high and beat until smooth. Pour into a greased 8 in round cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool briefly then turn out onto a wire rack.