Sweet, Buttery and Soft, this Perfect Vanilla Sponge Cake Recipe adapted from the popular pound cake recipe where butter, sugar, eggs and flour has the same weight in pound leaving a soft, supple and well balanced Buttery crumb that’s oh so Delicious in taste!
This traditional pound cake recipe is over 100 years old . It containsย 1 pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour with no salt, baking powder, or flavoring. Without Baking powder or flavoring, it probably had a dense texture also lacking in our usual preferred vanilla flavor.
A pound of flour means 453grams which equals approximatelyย 3.6 cups. A pound of Eggs means between 8 or 9 large eggs. So thats quite an enormous amount of cake to bake. I wanted to bake something not too small that it gets over very fast but moderate quantity around half a kg for our regular tea time. So i developed this recipe which also can be sliced into layers and be made as a layer cake with frosting of our choice. I will also try to bake this into a loaf so it’s easier to slice and serve as a tea cake.
It is believed that the pound cake is ofย Northern European originย and dates back to the early 18th century. A recipe for pound cake appears in The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse, published in 1747.
Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 150g | 2/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 150g | 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 150g | 3 Large Eggs, weigh without shells
- 1 1/4 Tsp Vanilla Essence
- 150g | 1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/4 Tsp | 6g Baking powder measure in grams recommended
- 1/4 Tsp Salt, if using unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp Milk, room temperature
Instructions
- Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder using a weighing scale to get perfect results. If you don't own a weighing scale, fluff & scoop out the flour in the cup using a spoon instead of directly taking the flour with the cup.
- Butter should be at room temperature not too hard nor too soft for perfect cake texture. Beat the butter on medium speed till smooth for a few seconds. Beat the sugar with the butter on low speed for 1-2 mins till color changes to white.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg till fully incorporated around 15-20secs. Add the Vanilla Essence. Beat on medium speed till nice and fluffy.
- Place a Sieve on top, add the All purpose flour, Baking powder & Salt. Sift the dry ingredients in three batches alternating with the milk ending with the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed or just fold with your spatula till just incorporated. Do not over mix. Overmixing results in dense cakes.
- Bake @170C in a preheated oven for 40-45 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. I used a 7 inch Tin. Allow to cool in a cooling rack for 15-20 Mins. Loosen the sides first gently then reverse on a plate.