Mrs. Ng SK Pandan Butter Cake Recipe (Singapore Butter Cake)
Course: Cakes, Chinese New Year
Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Prep Time: 50 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 50 minutesminutes
Total Time: 1 hourhour40 minutesminutes
Servings: 30slices (7 x 7 inch square cake)
Calories: 202kcal
Author: Marvellina
Learn how to make a moist yet soft and airy butter cake with a texture similar to a sponge cake. All the tips you need and video tutorial are included.
Separate the egg yolks from the whites when they are still cold. It's easier. Then let the eggs, butter, and milk come to a room temperature, about 30 minutes before you plan to start making the cake. If it's warm where you are, you may not even need that long
The butter should be soft, but shouldn't be melty. You should be able to easily mash it. If it's shiny and wet, the butter is too soft.
Measure the flour, sugar, and the rest of the ingredients. Grease the bottom and sides of your pan with a bit of oil or cooking spray. Line with parchment paper on all sides for easy removal, the oil or cooking spray helps to keep the paper on the spot
Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in one bowl and whisk to mix
Start by beating the meringue first:
Make sure the bowl is oil-free. Whisk on a medium speed (speed 6 on Kitchen Aid) using a whisk attachment, until the egg whites are frothy. about 1-2 minutes. Add the acid or cream of tartar and continue to beat for another minute. Gradually add sugar in 3 batches, wait about a minute for each batch. Once all the sugar is in, increase the speed to high (speed 8 on Kitchen Aid) and whip the meringue until it is glossy and stiff. When you lift the whisk up, the meringue stays in shape with a slight bent on the tip. Don't overbeat the meringue too or it will break
Prepare cake batter:
Preheat oven to 340 F (170 C) for a conventional oven (bottom heat). If you only have one mixing bowl for your stand mixer, transfer the meringue out to another clean bowl. You don't need to wash this bowl you use to whip meringue earlier, add softened butter and sugar. Use a paddle attachment and cream butter and sugar until they are pale and creamy (speed 4 on Kitchen Aid). Add egg yolk one by one, make sure it's well combined before adding the next one. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl if needed. If the temperature is really hot where you are, and the butter started to get melty, you can put your mixing bowl on top of ice water and continue to mix
Lower the speed to low. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until barely combine, you still see some flour, add 1/3 of the milk and mix at low speed until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix until just barely combine again followed by the rest of the milk and pandan extract, and mix again until almost combined. Stop the machine and use a spatula to manually scrape the side of the bowl and gently fold everything until you don't see a loose white flour mixture. Take care not to overmix or your cake will be dense. The batter is very thick at this point
Fold egg whites into the cake batter:
Take 1/3 of the meringue and put it into the cake batter and turn on the machine at low speed to mix it until you barely see the white meringue anymore. This initial mixing with a mixer will help the next folding easier to combine. Then turn off the machine and manually using a spatula to FOLD in the next 1/3 of the meringue by using the cutting method. Cut into the middle and fold over. Continue until you use up all of the meringue. Work gently but quickly
Bake:
Pour batter into the prepared pan. The batter is thick so you need to use a spatula to smooth the top. Drop the cake pan from about 4-5 inches height on the counter 3-4 times to pop large air bubbles. You can also use a skewer or chopstick to run through the cake to pop the air bubbles
Put the cake pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 300 F (150 C) and bake for additional 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. My cake browns too fast and that's why I have to lower the temperature. This is for my oven. You may be able to bake at 340 F (170 C) for 45 minutes without lowering the oven temperature. You will have to observe this yourself
The cake will dome slightly during baking but it shouldn't dome AND crack. There shouldn't be any crack. Don't be alarmed by the dome shape. This will flatten up when you cool the cake down
Cool down:
Once the cake is done, remove it from the oven. Bang the cake pan 2-3 times on the counter. This minimizes shrinkage. Let it cools down on the pan for 5 minutes and then gently pull the parchment paper to lift the cake out onto a cooling rack. Peel the parchment paper off from the sides and let the cake cools off completely before slicing
The cake will shrink a little bit and it's normal. The top will be more wrinkly due to the shrinkage, but that's not an issue
Serving:
I HIGHLY recommend slicing and serving the cake the next day if you can. Once it has cooled down completely. I remove the parchment paper and cover it with cling wrap and leave it at room temperature for the next day. Trust me, it's worth the wait. I tried the cake on the first day before (because I was impatient and couldn't wait to try it) and both hubby and I thought the cake was a bit, just a bit dry, though still very delicious. The next day, we notice the cake has developed even better flavor and so much moister but still light and soft
Slice the cake with a serrated knife and cut in a sawing motion so you won't be squishing the cake
Video
Notes
I use store-bought pandan extract. If you want to use homemade pandan extract, I would suggest using about 2 Tbsp of the extract for deeper flavor and color. Though the homemade extract won't give as vibrant green color