Butter Cake With Variations Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, egg, and butter; mix well. Pat mixture into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside. Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter; mix well. Pour the filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point! Pumpkin: This variation has to be at the top of my list, especially around Thanksgiving. For the cake part, I sometimes use a spice cake mix. I have even used a chocolate cake mix, but I think my favorite is the basic yellow cake mix. Follow the original recipe, adding a 15-ounce can of pumpkin pie filling and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Bake as usual, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Cut into squares and top each square with a pecan half. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I promise you'll never want pumpkin pie again! Pineapple: Add a 20-ounce can of drained crushed pineapple and an extra egg to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above. You can also add coconut to cream cheese Lemon: Use a lemon cake mix in place of the yellow cake. Add the juice (approximately 1/4 cup) and zest of 2 lemons to the cream cheese filling. Proceed: as directed above. Carrot Cake: Use a spice cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts and 1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above. Peanut Butter: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and an extra egg to cream cheese filling. You can sprinkle the top of batter with 1 cup chopped peanuts if you like. Proceed as directed above. Chocolate Chip: Use either yellow or chocolate cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts on top of filling. Proceed as directed above. Banana: Use a yellow cake mix. Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas and an extra egg. Proceed as directed above. Nutty: Use a yellow cake mix, and add 1 cup chopped nuts to the cake mixture. Proceed as directed above. Chippy: Stir 1 cup white chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, Heath Almond Toffee Bits or Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits into filling. Proceed as directed above.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment or wax paper, or dust lightly with flour.
• Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
• Beat butter and white sugar until fluffy and light in color. Gradually add eggs, beating well after each addition; stir in vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Stir until just blended (see Cook's Note for Blueberry Cake variation). Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for until cake springs back when lightly touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire rack to cool completely.

Steps:

• Grease a loaf tin.
• Preheat oven to 175°C.
• Sift flour and salt 3 times.
• In a mixing bowl cream butter and castor sugar with vanilla essence until mixture is white, light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each.
• Fold sifted flour into creamed mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
• When mixture is smooth, pour into prepared tin.
• Lightly smooth top and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a fine skewer will come out clean.
• Cool cake on few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
• VARIATIONS.
• Lemon Cake - add the grated rind of 1 lemon and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, omit the vanilla essence.
• Orange Cake - add the grated rind of 1 orange and 2 teaspoons of orange juice, omit the vanilla essence.
• Sultana Cake - add 4 to 6 ounces of sultanas and 1 teaspoon of spice. (now 3/4 cup sultanas and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or mixed spice).
• Seed Cake - add 1 tablespoon caraway seeds to mixture and sprinkle extra teaspoon of seeds on top before baking.
• Spice Cake - sift 1 teaspoon spice with flour, add 4 ounces chopped dates or chopped walnuts to mixture. (now sift 1 teaspoon spice - ground ginger, cinnamon, cardamom or mixed spice with the flour and add 3/4 cup chopped dates or walnuts to the mixture).
• Chocolate Cake - add 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, dissolved in a little milk. (now - add 60 grams melted dark chocolate to creamed mixture, before the flour).

Steps:

• Frosting choices: Sift icing sugar over or chocolate butter icing or lemon/orange butter icing.
• Simple butter icing- icing sugar, butter, cocoa, tiny bit of milk, for chocolate, just measure amounts that look right and whip them all together.
• Lemon or orange butter icing: the same as chocolate except instead of cocoa, use lemon or orange zest, and a teaspoon of vanilla or a tiny bit of the lemon or orange juice.
• Sift before measuring,cake flour, resift with sugar.
• add soft butter, eggs,milk, salt baking powder and vanilla.
• Beat these ingredients vigorously with a wire whisk or electric beater for 2 or 3 minutes.
• Bake the cake in a buttered 9 x 13 inch pan or in two 8 inch buttered, round layer pans in a moderate oven (350°F) for about 1/2 hour or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean.
• Variations-----------.
• Spice cake: add to flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cloves.
• Chocolate cake: Use 4 tablespoons less flour and add to flour 4 tablespoons cocoa.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together melted butter, egg and vanilla; add to flour mixture and stir to combine. Press onto bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking dish., For topping, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and eggs until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and stir to combine. Pour over crust. Bake until center is almost set and edges start to brown, 40-45 minutes. Cool 1 hour on a wire rack. Sprinkle with additional confectioners' sugar if desired.

Steps:

• Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the clean bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. The egg white mixture will be gloppy and thick, but as the mixture begins to warm up, it will become more fluid. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until it is very hot to the touch (130°F on a candy thermometer).
• Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites on medium-high speed until they have tripled in volume and are thick and glossy and hold stiff peaks (like meringue), 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed until the mixing bowl is just cool to the touch, 1 to 2 minutes. Kick the mixer back up to medium-high speed and add the butter one piece at a time, adding the next piece just as the previous one has been incorporated. Stop the mixer every so often to scrape down the escaping buttercream from the sides of the bowl. At some point, the buttercream will take on a curdled appearance; don't worry, this is normal. Just keep on mixing until it comes together. Once all the butter is incorporated and the frosting is fluffy and creamy, blend in the vanilla and salt until fully combined.
• Covered with plastic wrap, buttercream will last 2 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, the buttercream must be brought to room temperature before you use it. Either way, the buttercream must be rewhipped-either by hand if kept at room temperature or with a mixer if refrigerated-before you frost a cake with it.
• Raspberry Buttercream:
• Mash and strain 4 cups (10 ounces) of raspberries, fresh or frozen, through a fine mesh sieve to catch the seeds. (If using frozen berries, measure them before thawing.) Discard the seeds and set aside the puree while you follow the method for making Basic Buttercream. Add the berry puree at the end of the recipe, with the vanilla and the salt.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F Grease two 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper; grease the paper. Dredge the pans with flour and shake out the excess.
• Cream the margarine with all but 2 Tablespoons of the sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is very pale and fluffy.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together into another bowl.
• Using a wooden spoon, beat one egg at a time into the sugar mixture, following each with 1 Tablespoon of the flour.
• Mix in the remaining flour and the lemon juice, Divide the mixture between the two prepared pans and level the surfaces.
• Bake the sponge cakes for 20 to 25 minutes, until well risen, golden brown, and just firm to the touch. Turn them out onto a wire rack, and leave the paper attached until they have cooled completely.
• Strip off the paper. Place one sponge layer on a plate, and spread it with jam. Set the second layer on top of the first and then sift the remaining sugar evenly over the top of the cake. Serves 12.
• VARIATIONS:.
• For a richer flavor and a moister texture, make the sponge cake with light brown sugar instead of granulated sugar.
• For a whole wheat sponge cake, replace HALF the white flour with whole wheat flour and INCREASE the baking powder by 1/4 teaspoon.
• For a Chocolate sponge cake, REPLACE 2 Tablespoons of the flour with sifted cocoa powder and use water in place of the lemon juice.
• For a richer filling, beat 2 Tablespoons of low fat ricotta cheese into the jam.
• Replace the jam filling with a thickened fruit puree; lemon curd; flavored pastry cream; or 4 Tablespoons of yogurt cheese, sweetened with 1 Tablespoons of confectioners' sugar.
• Sift 2 Tablespoons of confectioners' sugar over the cake in place of the granulated sugar. Alternatively, lay a doily on the sponge cake, and sift 1/4 cup of confectioners' sugar over it. Carefully remove the doily to reveal a pattern on the cake.
• Fresh Ways with Cakes.