Butter Cake Recipe

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and line a 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pan with parchment paper.

Bring the softened butter to room temperature so it's spreadable but not greasy. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the 200 g softened butter and 200 g granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes, until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl. Mix in the 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Reduce the mixer to low and add one-third of the dry ingredients, then half of the 60 ml milk, followed by another third of dry, the rest of the milk, and finish with the remaining dry ingredients. Mix just until incorporated — do not overmix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and tap the pan once on the counter to remove large air bubbles.

Bake for 30–40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack, peel off parchment, and cool completely (at least 1 hour) before slicing or assembling with custard and strawberries.

While the cake is baking or cooling, make the passion fruit custard. In a small bowl whisk together 4 egg yolks, 70 g sugar and 20 g cornstarch until smooth and slightly pale.

Warm 300 ml whole milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to steam — do not boil. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of warm milk and gradually pour the remaining milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream while whisking constantly (tempering).

Return the tempered egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and comes to a gentle boil (1–2 minutes). Remove from heat immediately.

Stir in 200 g passion fruit pulp and 20 g unsalted butter until smooth. Taste and if the pulp is very tart, add up to 1 tablespoon sugar to balance. Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl to remove seeds and any cooked bits if you prefer a smoother texture. Cover with plastic pressed to the surface and chill until cool (at least 30 minutes).

If desired, macerate the 300 g quartered strawberries with 1 tbs powdered sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice for 10–15 minutes to draw out juices and sweeten lightly.

To assemble: place the cooled butter cake on a serving plate. If the cake has domed, level the top with a serrated knife. Cut the cake horizontally into two even layers using a long serrated knife (optional) or simply top the whole cake.

Spread a generous layer (about half) of the chilled passion fruit custard over the bottom layer (or the cake top if not layered). Arrange half of the macerated strawberries over the custard.

Place the second layer of cake on top if you sliced it. Spread the remaining custard over the top layer and arrange the remaining strawberries decoratively. Spoon any leftover passion fruit juices from the maceration over the strawberries for gloss.

Slice the assembled cake and serve each portion with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if using.

Store any leftover custard in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and the cake covered at room temperature for 1–2 days or refrigerated for up to 3 days (bring to room temp before serving).