Invention Test: How to bake a butter cake with no butter!!

Ok, this came from an idea i had to make a basic butter cake, after talking to Saskia in Belgium.  But looking thru the fridge i couldn't see any butter. But i have grape seed oil, so i decided to use that instead.

Normally in a butter cake you would cream the butter and sugar together in the first step. but it's a little hard to do that with oil, so i decided to use egg yolks, 3 in fact.  The remaining egg whites could be used at the end of the recipe to lighten the batter.

The recipe I came up with:

3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup of castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups of sifted soft plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder (or use 2 cups of self raising flour and no b.p.)
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
pinch salt
1 cup of milk
150ml grape seed oil (or neutral vegetable oil such as canola)

method
cream sugar and egg yolks together
add vegetable oil, vanilla and mix
sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarb soda. mix well
Add cup of milk, slowly mixing through until the batter is smooth and no lumps
Fold in softly beaten egg whites using a large metal spoon
Pour into a greased cake tin, about 20cm in diameter
Bake for 50 minutes at 170deg

butter topping

i managed to find a small knob of butter in the back of the fridge, so may as well use it to top the cake
try this
2 tbsp butter
2.5 tbsp castor sugar, or to taste
1/2 tsp coffee powder
1 tbsp hot water

cream butter and sugar, add coffee and hot water, keep mixing for a minute

this is a yummy cake, serve warm straight from the oven with butter topping melting all over it, like a sauce.  base, sides and top golden brown and crispy.  perfect with morning coffee (my 2nd)

now the keyboard is sticky

:)

Margaret Fulton's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

from Sydney Morning Herald Good Living Magazine 5/10/10

this recipe requires a bit of work, and technique, but is definitely worth the effort.  From the doyen's own recipe collection, she says  'if I had to choose only one chocolate cake recipe to carry me through life, this would have to be it.'

Suggest you read the comments as well

4 tbsp flaked almonds
1 cup boiling water
125g dark chocolate, chopped
1 tsp bicarb. soda
250g unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 1/2 cups plain flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup light sour cream

Preheat oven to 180deg C

Generously butter a three litre fluted tin or 2x 20cm ring tins
Sprinkle with the flaked almonds, pressing them well into the butter coating

Put the boiling water, chocolate and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Leave to cool.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition.

Stir in the vanilla essence.  Add the chocolate mixture a little at a time, beating well.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder and fold in the sour cream, mixing lightly until combined.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture with a large metal spoon.

Pour into the prepared tins, and bake for 1 hour -1 1/4 hours for a large cake, 45 minutes for smaller cakes.

Test for doneness with a clean metal skewer.

Leave for a minute, and turn out to cool on a wire rack.

Voila!


 

Looking good

 

Oops



 

 



 





Karen Martini's Blood Orange and Lemon Cake

I made this the other day for the hell of it, and left it on the table at the markets yesterday. It sold. 

This kind of food really smacks you in the face,  the citrus zings across the palate, followed closely by the sugar hit.   It's definitely not diabetic friendly :)  You could also serve this with double cream as a dessert. Call the ambulance!

 

3 blood oranges, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
300ml milk
200g yoghurt
150ml extra virgin olive oil,  or grape seed oil for a lighter taste
4 egg yolks
300g caster sugar
250g raw sugar
300g self raising flour, sifted (I used Anchor brand soft cake plain flour, with 2 tsp baking powder added)
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 egg whites, beaten into a soft peak
Syrup
200g white sugar
3 blood oranges, juice and zest cut into thick strips

If the blood oranges are out of season you can use navels or valencias instead.  If your oranges are huge, like mine, adjust the recipe to use 2 instead of 3.  It seemed to work just fine.
Preheat oven to 170C fan forced (190C conventional).  Line a 26cm springform tin with baking paper and grease lightly
Combine citrus juices, milk, yoghurt, oil and set aside
Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat yolks, sugars, and zests until thick and creamy. (If you are finding it difficult to cream the raw sugar, add 1 tbsp yoghurt mixture)
Add yoghurt mixture to yolk mixture.

Fold in dry ingredients, then gently fold in egg whites.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 65 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool slightly and remove from tin.

Syrup: place sugar and orange juice and zest in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5minutes.  Allow to cool and pour over warm cake
Voila!