This classic Sri Lankan Butter Cake is a buttery, rich, and moist cake and perhaps the most popular cake in Sri Lanka, a perfect accompaniment to a nice hot cup of tea or coffee.
One of the things I love about Sri Lankan butter cake is just how plain and simple it is, a must-try for all you butter cake lovers. It’s a delicious butter cake perfect for all occasions be it a birthday, anniversary, home party, or simply when you want a tea-time snack.
My Love Affair with Sri Lankan Butter Cake
This butter cake is one of those nostalgic cakes that takes me right back to my childhood and has a special place in my heart. It was my childhood favorite cake and as a little girl, I was dreaming to bake a butter cake on my own someday when I grew up.
So, when I started baking later in my life, the first cake I made was this butter cake. Since that day, I have baked this butter cake many times and will be baked many many more times in the future too.
There were obviously a lot of things I did wrong until I could make a best-taste butter cake. I have learned so much through failure and success and happy to share the tips & tricks that I have learned.
What is Butter Cake?
A butter cake is a cake that uses butter as a main ingredient and flavor. The batter is made with basic ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, milk, and baking powder. Adding salt, and flavoring is optional.
Butter cakes are typically made by creaming butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy to create a light, moist, and soft crumb cake, then beating in the eggs, and alternately adding the dry and wet ingredients.
About Moist Butter Cake Recipe
This Sri Lankan butter cake is easy to make butter cake made with 7 simple ingredients (Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Flour, Milk, Salt, Vanilla Extract), and the preparation is very straightforward.
But it requires some patience and practice for making a perfect butter cake. When made well, it should be moist, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth, as this one is!
As the name implies, it is a butter cake, but in Sri Lanka, it is very common to use margarine instead of butter, probably because margarine is cheaper and readily available.
In this recipe, I have used a bundt cake pan, but feel free to use other types of pans (round, square, tube, or loaf pans) as you like.
Ingredients to make butter cake
The basic ingredients for baking this butter cake are; flour, eggs, fat ( butter or/and margarine), sugar, salt, a liquid (usually milk), and leavening agents (usually baking powder).
- Unsalted Butter: Butter adds delightful buttery flavor as well as tenderness and richness to this butter cake. So, I prefer using butter but you can also use good quality margarine instead of butter or use half butter and half margarine if you like.
- Sugar: Use fine granulated sugar. Sugar sweetens the cake and also helps to create air pockets when beaten together with butter which is called “creaming”. And sugar also helps to get a nicely browned crust.
- Eggs: Use large eggs, each weighing between 60 to 65 gm. Eggs serve several purposes in a cake, the main one being to bind the structure together and also help leaven the cake and add to the tenderness and richness.
- Flour: I used cake Flour as it keeps the cake tender and moist. You can also use plain or all-purpose flour if that’s what you like.
- Baking powder: Baking powder is a chemical leaven that helps make the cake rise.
- Salt: Salt balances out the sweetness and the flavors of the cake and ensures that it does not taste flat.
- Flavors: Adding flavors is optional. You can use vanilla extract or replace it with almond extract if preferred. Add about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter for a lemony flavor. If you use lemon juice you will need to adjust the amount of milk you use.
Steps to make MoiST Butter cake
- Prep Your Ingredients and Equipment
- Preheat the Oven
- Cream the Butter and Sugar
- Add the Eggs and Beat
- Alternate Adding Dry Flour and Milk
- Bake the Cake
- Cool the Cake
Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
for Making the Best MOIST butter Cake
The most important thing to remember when making this butter cake is to have all the ingredients at room temperature and to make sure you follow the instructions on mixing.
Part 1-Preparation
Do the Preparation before you start making the cake
Read through the recipe fully, measure out all of your ingredients, and gather any equipment you might need before starting.
About the Cake Pan
If you use a Bundt cake pan, grease it with softened butter. Dust lightly with flour and shake off the excess. You can also do the same even if you use a round, loaf, or square pan or line it with baking paper after lightly greasing it so that you can easily pull the cake out of the pan once it is done baking.
Measure the ingredients
Use an electronic measuring machine to measure dry and wet ingredients for accuracy and convenience.
Allow the ingredients to come to room temperature
It is very important that all the ingredients are at room temperature for this recipe. around 21° C (70° F), before starting your recipe. If the ingredients are too cold, they won’t cream easily and won’t become the light fluffy texture you’re looking for.
Use softened butter
Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. When you press a finger into it, it leaves an indention. When using soft butter, it can mix well with the rest of the ingredients. If it is cold it will be lumpy and very difficult to mix in.
This cake relies on the air that is mixed into the batter during the creaming process for its rise. Soft butter is more efficient to trap small air bubbles when it is beaten with sugar which helps the cake rise.
Cut the butter into small cubes and place them in the mixing bowl and wait until the butter softens before start creaming the butter. Make sure that your butter is soft but still solid. If your butter is too soft and starting to melt it can greatly affect the end product not getting the right texture.
Prep the baking pan
Make sure to prepare the baking pan before you start making the batter so as to bake the cake without any delay.
Sieve the dry ingredients
Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) together 3 times. Sieving can remove lumps and impurities. It also aerates the flour and also shortens the time of mixing and even the distribution of the dry ingredients.
Part 2-Making the Batter
Use the Proper Creaming Technique
Creaming the butter and sugar together properly until light and fluffy is the most important part of making a perfect butter cake. The technique is not difficult but requires some patience and practice.
It takes around 10 minutes, so be patient without rushing, because the purpose of this process is to force air into the mixture. The tiny air bubbles expand during baking to form the light, airy, fluffy, and soft texture of the cake.
Start with softened butter at room temperature and make sure to beat at high speed until the mixture is very light in color and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure even mixing whenever needed.
Add the Eggs Very Slowly – Creating an Emulsion
When adding eggs, it’s best to lightly beat them first and slowly add them to the butter-sugar mixture as it’s whipping. Things usually break when liquid is added to quickly or too much is added.”
First, whisk the whole eggs and yolk in a bowl and then add the egg mixture a little at a time and beat at high speed until well combined before adding the next part. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure even mixing as needed. Continue mixing until it becomes homogeneous for 3 to 5 minutes in total.
Can I Fix Curdled Batter?
If the mixture will curdle or go a little lumpy after you when beating in the eggs you can fix it by stirring in a tablespoon or two of flour to the mixture, just until the batter is emulsified once again. Stirring too long will cause excess gluten to form, which will toughen up your cake.
Do Not Over-Mix or Under-Mix Your Batter
Make sure to gently fold the flour in until no more visible lumps in the batter. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated as you want to limit the gluten formation as much as possible to keep your cake very tender.
Part 3-Baking
Baking time and temperature
Make sure to preheat the oven until the internal temperature became stable. The temperature and time for baking this butter cake can vary from oven to oven, depending on the weight of the batter as well as the shape of the pan. So, the baking temperature and time suggested in this recipe are only a rough guide.
Do not over-bake or Under-Bake
To keep this cake moist, make sure you don’t over-bake your cake. The longer the cake bakes the drier it becomes. If the cake is underbaked, give the cake a little extra baking time and check every few minutes.
Check the Doneness
When the tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, then the cake is done. However, if you wait to pull the cake until it is completely dry in the middle, you will have a very dry butter cake.
Part 4-Cooling
Allow to Cool Properly
The residual heat in the cake will continue the cooking even after it is out of the oven. So, once you have pulled it from the oven, let cool for about 5 minutes, and then remove it from the pan and place it on a baking rack to cool completely.
Serving Suggestions
One of the most classic ways to enjoy a fresh slice of butter cake is to serve it with a hot cup of coffee or tea. This cake is best eaten warm fresh out of the oven or at room temperature.
If you refrigerate it, bring the cake to room temperature before serving. Do not thaw frozen cake in the microwave or oven as it will dry out and the taste will change.
Here are a few other ways you can serve this moist butter cake; dusted with powdered sugar, topped with whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, jam, or fruit component.
Storing Suggestion
At Room Temperature: When it comes to storing a butter cake, from my experience, storing it at room temperature is better as it helps to retain moisture and keep it from getting too hard. Wrap in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for 2 to 3 days.
In the Refrigerator: You can store it in the refrigerator for one week or so in an airtight container after wrapping it in plastic wrap. However, the cake will become somewhat dense and hard in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
In the Freezer: You can freeze the whole cake or individual slices for about 3 months. Wrap the whole cake (or individual slices separately) with plastic wrap and then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag.
Thawing: Remove from the freezer and let the cake come to room temperature before unwrapping it from the plastic wrap.
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The Best Moist Butter Cake
Step-By-Step Recipe
PREP TIME: 30 min
BAKE TIME: 40 min
18 or 20 cm Bundt cake pan
Ingredients
200 g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
180 g granulated sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
180 g cake flour
2 tablespoon milk, at room temperature
Preparation
- Gather and measure the ingredients.
- Cut butter into small pieces and place in a bowl; let stand at room temperature (21°C) to soften.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and position an oven rack in the lower half of the oven.
- Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt together three times.
Grease the pan with softened butter. Dust lightly with flour and shake off the excess. Set aside.
Make the Batter
Slightly beat the softened butter with a wooden spoon before beating it with the hand mixer.
Next, start beating with a hand mixer when the butter is soft enough. Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes.
Start adding the sugar after the butter becomes a bit creamy. Gradually add sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Beat at high speed until the mixture becomes pale yellow, light, and fluffy for about 5 minutes. And then continue beating at medium-high for about 3 minutes.
Mix until it is light, fluffy, creamy, and become pale yellow. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Lightly whisk the whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract (if using) together in a small bowl just until combined with a fork.
Gradually add the eggs, little by little, and beat at high speed so that the incorporation of the added egg portion is complete prior to adding more.
A small portion (one tablespoon) of the dry ingredients may be added at this stage to ensure that a proper emulsion is formed and to prevent the batter from splitting.
Beat until thick and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes in total, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed.
Alternately add flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, folding gently with a rubber spatula after each addition until just combined.
Start with 1/3 flour mixture and mix, then 1/2 the milk and mix, then the second 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix, then the remaining milk and mix, finish with the last 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Make sure you keep folding until the batter appears homogeneous without white dots.
Do not over-mix. Stop mixing once the flour is incorporated and homogenous.
Baking
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level the surface evenly with a spatula. Give the cake pan a few taps on the counter to get rid of any large trapped air bubbles.
Bake for 25 mins at 180°C, then reduce oven temp to 170°C. Continue to bake for another 10 to 15 mins or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a clean crumb.
Cooling
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes.
Remove the cake from the pan and place it on a cooling rack to cool.
Serve & Enjoy!
It is a perfect accompaniment to a nice hot cup of tea or coffee.
The Best Moist Butter Cake Recipe
THE BEST MOIST BUTTER CAKE
Equipment
- 18 or 20 cm Bundt Cake Pan
Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 180 g granulated sugar
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 180 g cake flour
- 2 tablespoon milk at room temperature
Instructions
- Gather and measure the ingredients. Cut butter into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and position an oven rack in the lower half of the oven.
- Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt together three times.
- Grease the pan with softened butter. Dust lightly with flour and shake off the excess. Set aside.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Leave the bowl out on your counter until it reaches room temperature (21°C).
- Slightly beat the softened butter with a wooden spoon before beating it with the hand mixer.
- Next, start beating with a hand mix when the butter is soft enough. Beat on high speed for about 2 minutes.
- Start adding the sugar after the butter becomes a bit creamy. Gradually add sugar, a tablespoon at a time. Beat at high speed until the mixture becomes pale yellow or almost white, light, and fluffy for about 5 minutes. And then continue beating at medium-high for about 3 minutes.
- Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until it is light, fluffy, creamy, and become pale yellow.
- Lightly whisk the whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract (if using) together in a small bowl just until combined with a fork.
- Add the egg mixture gradually, little by little, and beat at high speed until all the eggs are incorporated.
- Beat until thick and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes in total, stopping to scrape the bowl as needed.
- Alternately add flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, folding gently with a rubber spatula after each addition until just combined.
- Start with 1/3 flour mixture and mix, then 1/2 the milk and mix, then the second 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix, then the remaining milk and mix, finish with the last 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Make sure you keep folding until the batter appears homogeneous without white dots.
- Do not over-mix. Stop mixing once the flour is incorporated and homogenous.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and level the surface evenly with a spatula. Give the cake pan a few taps on the counter to get rid of any large trapped air bubbles.
- Bake for 25 mins at 180°C, then reduce oven temp to 170°C. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 mins or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with a clean crumb.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the pan and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely. However, you can also serve this butter cake warm if you like.
- Serve & Enjoy! It is a perfect accompaniment to a nice hot cup of tea or coffee.
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