It’s not uncommon for me to waste spend copious amounts of time perusing cookbooks and recipe boards on pinterest. I’m constantly reading recipes and thinking about meals and our next grocery list. It IS uncommon, however, for me to jump up and cook something the instant I see it- but that’s what happened when I saw Averie Cooks‘ instagram post yesterday for this amazing-looking vanilla cake. I was in the kitchen faster than a pregnant lady runs to the bathroom to pee (ha…) ready to get this cake into the oven and cooling on my counter.
As is usually the case when I don’t plan on making something, I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand and so created my own version, subbing what I did have for what was called for in the original recipe. The result? Pure, amazing, vanilla, deliciousness. Potato starch sneaks into many of my baking recipes as it lends a wonderful texture to the crumb of a good cake. If you don’t have any on hand or don’t want to buy it (though one package will last you a long time!) just use the full cup of flour.
The best part about this recipe is that it makes a perfect little 8×8″ cake that is just the right amount for a family treat without having a crap ton of cake lying around. Because who needs a crap ton of cake?! Oh wait… 😉
Recipe:
(adapted from the original version which can be found on averiecooks.com by clicking HERE)
Cake:
1 scant cup all purpose flour (slightly less than a full cup)
1 Tbsp. potato starch (potato starch lends a great texture to the crumb of a cake but isn’t essential- don’t worry if you don’t have any!)
3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup vanilla coconut milk
1/3 cup vanilla greek yogurt
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (if you or your family don’t prefer the rich flavor of this oil, use a plain oil like veg or canola)
2 teaspoons high quality, real, vanilla extract
Frosting:
5 Tbsp. salted butter browned in the microwave – (genius instructions on doing this can be found again from Averie Cooks!) I melted mine for 5 minutes in my microwave and it was browned perfectly.
1 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups powder sugar
1-2 teaspoons of high quality, real, vanilla extract depending on how much you like vanilla 😉
Vanilla coconut milk (optional, added a tiny bit at a time to adjust consistency)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F (my oven is a tiny bit hot so I heated to 345F) and spray an 8″x8″ pan with baking spray (the kind with flour in it is my fave!).
In a large mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk wet ingredients. Using a spatula, gently blend the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake on center rack for 29 minutes or until center springs back when gently touched and toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Turn out of pan onto a wire cooling rack until cool to the touch.
For Frosting:
Brown the butter in the microwave. Transfer immediately to clean, cool, bowl and immediately add powdered sugar, salt and vanilla all at once. Mix with spatula until combined and smooth (the heat of the butter will help melt out any lumps in the sugar).
I ended up adding about 2 Tbsp. of the coconut milk to my frosting… it was definitely thick. If you want a more glaze like texture you might need a bit more liquid.
Sprinkles make everything better 😉
Mmmm, vanilla. My chocolate-induced heart burn is thanking me for the break!
Happy hump day, peeps.
-J
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