Vanilla Cake with Chantilly Cream

Adapted from Posie Harwood Brien on Food52.

Serves 8 to 10

The cakes I like best are 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, which you might want to keep in your arsenal as it would be good with other things.

When you get to the step of folding the melted butter into the batter, it is important to be scrupulous about fully incorporating it, even if it seems like it will never happen.

The Cake

198 grams butter, melted and cooled—do this first
200 grams granulated sugar
Extra sugar for coating the bottom and sides of the cake pan
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
136 grams flour
Extra butter for coating the bottom and sides of the cake pan

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.

Beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture doubles in size. Add the vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract, 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, doing your best 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.

The Chantilly Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon 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.