Less is More: Simple Vanilla Butter Cake

I am ending 2023 with the simplest cake I can think of, because sometimes it is the simplest things that satisfy the most.

This is a perfect cake for birthdays or tea. I like to serve it just like this, completely unadorned except for a dusting of powdered sugar, cup of black coffee to sip alongside. It is also excellent piled high with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fruit such as strawberries that have been sliced and dressed with a little sugar…or lovely fresh passionfruit pulp spooned straight from the fruit onto the cream.

There are just a few rules to making a good butter cake. One is to make sure the butter is very soft- leaving the butter out overnight is ideal or in a pinch you can melt 1/3 of the butter and add it to the mixer with the remaining butter if you forgot to remove it from the fridge. Eggs should also be room temperature or they may curdle when you add them to the butter. Remove from the fridge a couple

of hours ahead of baking. If you haven’t done this, a nice trick is to place the un-cracked eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes to help them warm up (this is a good trick to remember if you ever make poached eggs too!)

Remember as with any baking, a light touch makes the best cake, don’t over mix the batter, stopping the moment all the flour is incorporated.