Vanilla Cake with Chantilly Cream

Adapted from Posie Harwood Brien on FOOD52

Sometimes you need to bake a cake. Perhaps it’s for a birthday; perhaps you have some special strawberries and want a cake to serve them with; perhaps someone asks you to bake them a cake. The cakes I like are all single layer and rather plain, and this looks like a very plain cake—but it turns out to be packed with vanilla flavor and served with a luxurious, fragrant whipped cream.

Notes

I prefer cooking and baking using metric measurements. I think it’s particularly important with baking, which requires precision in order to be repeatable. 

Posie Harwood says you can use a hand-held electric mixer for this recipe, but I would not make it without a stand mixer, because beating the eggs and sugar until they are light and fluffy is a crucial step. While I am an enthusiastic baker, I would not say I am an accomplished one.

When you get to the step of folding the melted butter into the batter, it is important to be scrupulous about fully incorporating it.

My favorite cake pans are Parrish Magic Line aluminum. They are well-made, and the square and rectangular ones have actual square borders.

Ingredients for the Cake

198 grams (14 tablespoons) butter, melted and cooled – do this first (I like Kerrygold butter.)
200 grams granulated sugar (I like Domino Golden Sugar.)
Extra sugar for coating the bottom and sides of the cake pan
3 eggs at room temperature, or better yet, warmed for a short time in a bowl of warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (This is what really packs that vanilla wallop.)
¼ teaspoon salt (I use fine sea salt.)
136 grams flour
Extra butter for coating the bottom and sides of the cake pan

Instructions for the Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F; do not use convection.

Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment. Before you put the parchment down, dot the center of the pan with a little butter to secure the paper. Butter the bottom and sides of the cake pan, and coat with granulated sugar.

Using a stand mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar for 5 minutes or a little more, until the mixture doubles in size. Add the vanilla bean paste and salt, and mix gently.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, and sift the flour over the egg mixture. I do this with a hand-held strainer rather than a flour sifter. Gently fold the flour into the batter with a spatula, trying not to deflate it.

Add the melted butter and fold it in thoroughly using a spatula. Again, try not to deflate the batter, but be sure to incorporate the butter completely, leaving no streaks behind.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake until the cake starts to pull away slightly from the sides—about 35 minutes in my oven.

Remove from the oven and immediately run a knife or small spatula around the sides to loosen the cake from the sugar coating. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Ingredients for the Chantilly Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Beat the cream with the vanilla bean paste and sugar until stiff peaks form. I use a hand-held electric mixer with a small metal bowl and beaters (an extra set) that I always keep in the freezer especially for whipping cream. You want the whipped cream to be stable, but don’t overbeat it or it will turn grainy.

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