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Butter cake — cartoon recipe illustration
Baking

Butter cake

Serves 12 Prep 20 min Cook 50 min Total 70 min

Butter cake is a baking staple we keep on Scoops & Dishes because it rewards a clear metric method: grams and millilitres, Australian cups (250 ml), and steps you can follow without scrolling past a novel. Plan on 70 min from starting prep to plating for 12. Prep is about 20 min; the active cook or oven time is closer to 50 min. Read the whole method once before you turn on the heat. Oven cue in the method is 180°C. Preheat fully; a cold start throws off the 70 min timing and can leave centres underdone while edges race ahead. One practical flag before you start: Room-temperature ingredients mix more evenly. The Notes section expands shopping, heat, texture, and leftovers so the page stays useful beyond a bare ingredient dump. Method opens with: “Heat oven to 180°C. Grease a deep 20 cm round cake pan; line base.”. Follow the order as written; jumping ahead is how pans crowd and sauces split.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180°C. Grease a deep 20 cm round cake pan; line base.
  2. Beat butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
  3. Fold in sifted flour alternately with milk until smooth. Spread into pan.
  4. Bake about 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Stand 5 minutes; turn onto a rack to cool.

Tip: Room-temperature ingredients mix more evenly. Makes a great base for icing or jam and cream.

Notes

  • Shopping and mise en place: read the full ingredient list once before you start. For Butter cake, butter and vanilla essence are the items that decide whether the dish tastes flat or properly seasoned. Weigh where grams are given — volume cups are fine for liquids and some dry goods, but baking ratios are tighter if you use scales. Australian cups are 250 ml; a tablespoon is 20 ml and a teaspoon is 5 ml.
  • From our tested tip, expanded: Room-temperature ingredients mix more evenly. Makes a great base for icing or jam and cream. Treat that as the non-negotiable. If something still feels off — too wet, too pale, too tight — adjust one variable at a time (heat, liquid, or bake time) rather than changing three things at once.
  • Why this page is written this way: we keep the story short and put the value in practical detail — ingredient order, heat cues, and storage — because that is what helps a home cook succeed on a Tuesday night. If a step feels unclear, email [email protected] and we will tidy the wording on the next pass.
  • Putting it together for Butter cake: work clean, taste as you go, and do not rush browning or reduction steps if they appear in the method. If you are cooking for mixed diets, plate sauces and toppings separately where practical. Keep this page bookmarked if it becomes a household regular — we update wording when cooks report a confusing step. Metric consistency across Scoops & Dishes means once you trust the cups and scales here, breakfast through dessert behaves the same way.