Simple Moist Golden Cake
This simple scratch cake is made from a recipe that is hundreds of years old, so it's tried-and-true, unlike the hundreds of Pinterest recipes that I've found to be frighteningly hit-or-miss. It uses an addition of whipped cream to add a lightness to the batter that you and your guests will notice.
Servings: 9 servings
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups Cake Flour
- 1 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/3 cups Sugar
- 1/3 cup Warm Water
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter cut into smaller pieces
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 3 lg Whole Eggs
- 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Grease and flour a 9″x2″ round cake pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment, if necessary. (Click here for a quick way to make the perfect size parchment round)
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and baking powder together until thoroughly blended.
- Place a medium bowl, hand mixer beaters and heavy cream into the refrigerator to chill for the final step.
- Add the sugar and warm water to the mixing bowl. Beat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter, vanilla and salt and beat until blended (this should take a while – give it 3 minutes or so). Add the oil and beat to blend.
- Add the flour in 1/3 portions, beating just until it’s all incorporated.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend gently until incorporated.
- Remove the chilled bowl, beaters and cream from the freezer. Beat the cream with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, then just a minute beyond that. Gently fold 1/2 of the whipped cream into the batter, followed by the second half.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350F until the cake just springs back to the touch – about 40 minutes. The inner temp should be 209F on a thermometer.
- Cool in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then strike with a palm all around the edge and invert on the rack. Cool completely.
Notes
Slicing your cake into layers I use a cake leveler that has an adjustable wire, but you can also use dental floss or even a simple, long knife. Just mark out your layer with a “clockface” of toothpicks, and use the knife or floss to slice it evenly. Frost or and/or fill your cake with fruit jam for a delicious, moist cake.