Ma's Butter Cake

As the title says, this is my mom’s recipe for a simple butter cake. Maybe “simple “ is a little misleading in this case ; it used to take a good 2 to 3 hours for mom from sifting the flour to getting the batter into the oven. This time it took me about an hour to do the prep work, with Blu behind my back checking “if the cake is ready?”. To a cooking-novice the procedure given below might look a bit daunting.. but let me tell you this , it will be worth all the effort.

Prep time: 45 min
Cooking time: 45 min
Ready in: 1 hr 30 min

Makes 16 (or more) servings

Ingredients:
• 1 cup all purpose flour ( 250 grams)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 large eggs ( 250 grams, in room temperature*)
• 1 cup powdered sugar (250 grams)
• 2 sticks of un-salted butter (250 grams, softened in room temperature)
• ½ cup of 2% milk
• 1 tbs vanilla essence
• ½ cup raisins chopped( optional)
• ¼ cup cashews chopped (optional)
• ½ cup walnuts chopped (optional)

You will also need:
• Medium sized Sieve
• Small, Medium & Large Mixing Bowls
• 13”x9” cake pan
• Hand-held blender
• Rubber spatula

Procedure:
Prepping
• Using the sieve sift together the flour and baking powder. Repeat 2-3 times to ensure they mix well
• Separate the egg whites and the yolk ** making sure that the yolk doesn’t break and go into the white. Put the yolks in the small mixing bowl and the whites in the medium mixing bowl.
• Add a pinch of sugar to the egg whites and using the blender whip them till they start making firm peaks.
• Beat the egg yolks till they are all broken down and frothy.

Mixing them in
• In the large mixing bowl combine the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla essence and 2% milk .Beat them together in medium speed till they are well incorporated.
• Add one large spoonful of the flour and baking powder mixture and one large spoonful of the egg-whites into the butter & sugar mixture. Gently fold in*** using a rubber spatula, scraping from the sides as you go.
• Keep adding the flour & egg whites as mentioned above till the entire thing is well incorporated into the cake mixture.
• Add the egg yolks into it and fold in gently.
• Add the fruits and nuts**** and fold in gently.

Getting the batter into the oven
• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Brush the inside of the cake pan with some butter. Add a tablespoon of flour to it and keep tilting and tapping the pan on the sides till the entire surface is coated with the flour.
• Add the prepared batter to it and bake for about 40-45 min**** or until a toothpick inserted comes clean

Lifesavers:
*It is very important that the eggs be used in room temperature since we want the egg whites to be whipped into firm peaks. The proteins in the egg-white expand better when they are warm. To test if they are right consistency, dip a spoon into it and draw it back; if the whites follow the trail and make a small peak you have got it right.

** For separating the egg whites from the yolk, holding the egg above the medium bowl gently crack them at the center with a knife. Without applying too much pressure open-up the crack and split into two halves, making sure that the yolk remains in one half shell, and letting the white drop into the bowl below. Now, gently slide the yolk into the other half of the shell, letting more of the egg white into the bowl. Repeat this until you have just yolk in the shell and all of the white has gone into the bowl. Try not to get the yolk in the white, it hampers the egg whites from stiffening up when whipped.

***Folding in: Gently run the rubber spatula on the sides on the sides of the bowl, scraping sides as you go, and in one direction. As you complete a circle, bring the spatula in a curved swoop towards the center (so that, all the batter you have accumulated from the sides will now go into the center). This is just a gentler way to get the mixture well incorporated making sure that the whipped egg retains the volume even after the mixing. If you stir briskly, the mixture would be deflated and lose volume, making the cake less fluffy.

**** Here is a tip to make sure that all the fruits and nuts don’t sink into the bottom of the cake while it is being baked. Add a spoonful of dry all-purpose flour to the fruits and nuts and toss well to coat them with flour all over, before you add them to the cake batter.

***** Baking time may vary depending on the individual oven-performance.

Note : The Nutrition Information provided below is for 1 serving of the cake, without the fruits and nuts.