Light and Fluffy Vanilla Cake

I have had quite a few request for a Vanilla cake recipe. Some of you have actually received this recipe by email and have loved it.

While a Chocolate cake is very popular amongst most kids, my son does not like chocolate cake. He only likes Vanilla cake. This is another one of his favorite vanilla cakes.
This is going to be his second birthday cake for this year, with the Toy Story 3 theme. 

The recipe is very easy to make and the reason I call it light and fluffy  is because the beaten stiff egg whites adds enough air that the cake is so soft, it almost melts in your mouth.

Makes 
Two x 8 inch round cakes each 2 inch tall  or
One 9 x 11 inch sheet cake.

Video Recipe - uplodaded on 9th March 2013

Ingredients

400 grams / 4 cups - cake flour
325 grams / 1 1/2 cup -  fine granulated white sugar
280 grams / 1 1/2 cup - unsalted Butter or 250 grams / 1 1/4 cup veg Shortening
5 large Eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Vanilla extract
240 ml / 1 cup Milk

Note: To make this Parve - use veg shortening instead of butter and non-dairy creamer or water instead of Milk.

Method: 

Preheat the oven at 170 C/ 340F.
Prepare your pans for baking
Sift the flour and  baking powder.
Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Ensure no egg yolks gets into the whites or they will not beat stiff.

Cream the butter and half the sugar in a electric mixer or by hand.

 Add in the egg yolks one at a time.

Once all the eggs are incorporated add in the flour and milk in three batches.

 The batter will look quite dense at this time.

In a clean bowl grease free bowl with a whisk attachment, add the eggs whites, salt and cream of tartar. Slowly add the balance sugar while whipping the egg whites.

 Beat until stiff peak form but the whites are still shinny.

Now incorporate the egg whites slowly into the cake batter.

Look at that.... I did a good job with the egg whites, didn't I. Wrong! But if you do; don't worry.

You don't really need to make sure the whites are totally disappeared. Over mixing could deflate the batter.

Pour the batter into your pans. I am using two 8 inch pans here as I want a slightly taller cake. 

Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the cake out of the oven. It is best not to leave them in the pan for too long or they will sink.
I usually take them out of the oven and immediately take them out of the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Here I have just flipped the hot cakes out. Be very careful though this can cause sever burns. Please do wear oven gloves when doing this.

 Here you can see how tall my cakes are. These are eight inch rounds each more than 2 inches high.

I hope you try this recipe, if you do please do let me know what you think.
Until next time,
Happy baking.

Thanks for stopping by.