PETALING JAYA, Feb 22 — Newbies to the baking world would always say that their first recipe they mastered would be the ubiquitous butter cake. While Googling for recipes, I encountered superlatives like “best”, “delicious” and “top”. Everyone would say that their recipe for butter cake is “the one”. Some recipes even claim that it is so easy that even kids can bake it.

But they never tell you that knowing your oven is important or that certain brands of ingredients yield different results. What you see on YouTube or cooking shows are professionals or seasoned bakers who can bake a butter cake with their eyes closed.

I had chosen a recipe for butter cake with yoghurt, since I like my cake to be a little moist. It is my first attempt at baking a butter cake since I was 16. Moreover, almost every single ingredient was found in my kitchen, except the vanilla extract and yoghurt I had bought at the last hour.

Brush the silicone tin evenly with the melted butter to prevent the cake from sticking (left). Make sure your brown sugar is free from lumps before mixing into the batter (center). Sift the flour and baking powder together (right)

Getting the ingredients measured out is easy but it takes preparation time which is approximately 10 minutes, depending if you are using measuring cups and spoons or a digital/analogue weighing scale.

Your butter must be at room temperature before you mix it with sugar (left). Add vanilla extract to your batter for fragrance (right)

What happens in between depends on your skill level and the humidity of your kitchen. I also realised that baking in the afternoon and baking after midnight yields different outcomes. Usually after midnight, everyone is asleep so you have the kitchen all to yourself to fully immerse yourself in the baking process. In the afternoon, someone might grab a cup of water or open the fridge to make a salad - there are just too many distractions to make you miss a step.

Also, beating eggs with a whisk after midnight is therapeutic. All you can hear is the hum of the fridge and maybe the wind blowing the trees outside.

This time, I wanted a quick fix in the afternoon and I was hungry. I have never used yoghurt before in a recipe so I know it may take longer to bake. Like some bakers like to say, “Once you pop it in the oven, it is out of your hands.”

Following the recipe, I had set the oven temperature at 180 degree Celsius, but when I tested the cake, it was baked on the outside but still wet in the centre, possibly from the yoghurt. I lowered the oven’s temperature to about 130 degree Celsius and baked for close to an hour.

Make sure your batter is evenly spread in the silicone tin before baking

Eventually, when the cake was finally cooked, it was sweet and moist but a little undercooked at certain parts. I cut away those pieces and used the squares shown in the photos. Give it a try and let me know how yours turns out.

BUTTER CAKE

Ingredients

180g all-purpose flour (sifted)

1 teaspoon baking powder (sifted)

1/2 teaspoon salt

180g brown sugar

180g butter ( by GoPhoto.it V9.0">room

temperature)

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons plain yoghurt

The cake will have a beautiful golden crust on the outside when you turn it out from the silicone tin

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Brush a 18cm x 8cm silicone loaf tin with butter.

2) Sift flour with baking powder. Add the salt and set it aside.

3) Whisk brown sugar and butter (either with an electronic mixer or by hand) until it turns yellow.

4) Add in the first egg and continue beating until fluffy. Follow by adding all the eggs one after another.

5) Mix the vanilla extract into the batter.

6) Combine the flour with the mixture slowly and beat until you get a smooth, creamy texture.

7) Add in the yoghurt and mix to combine. Pour the batter into the loaf tin and place in oven.

8) Bake for 45 minutes or until it turns brown. Use a cake tester after 30 minutes to see if it is fully baked. If it is still moist, reduce the oven temperature to 130 degrees Celsius and bake till the cake is no longer moist in the center when tested, about 1 hour in total.

9) Remove from the oven and set it on a tray until it is cooled.

10) Finally, take the cake out of the baking tray and slice it into pieces. It is now ready to be served!