Description
This moist, light cake is a variation on the egg-free depression-era cakes. It gets its rise from vinegar and baking soda, and flavour from browned butter and vanilla.
Ingredients
1/2 cup (115 g) cold butter, in cubes*
1 1/2 cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar**
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar
1 tablespoon (15 mL) vanilla
1 cup (235 ml) room temperature water
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, gently swirl the pot and continue to cook until the butter has browned. The butter is finished when it has turned dark amber and smells nutty. Immediately pour the butter into a glass measuring cup until you have 1/3 cup (80 ml) browned butter. Any remaining butter can be used for another purpose later.
Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a clean, un-greased 8-inch (20 cm) square metal baking pan. Combine with a fork until all ingredients are evenly distributed and there are no lumps.
Quickly add the 1/3 cup (80 mL) browned butter, vinegar, and vanilla to the flour mixture. The cake might fizz a bit as vinegar and baking soda react. Do NOT STIR yet.
Pour the water over the entire surface of the cake and mix well with the fork until there are no lumps, about 2 minutes. Be sure to get into the corners of the pan.
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake 35 to 40 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, you can ice the cake right in the pan, if you choose.
Notes
* You can make a vegan version by using vegetable oil instead of browned butter. It won’t taste the same, but will still be a very pleasant vanilla cake.
** If you don’t have granulated sugar, use brown sugar. This will produce a more butterscotch flavour.
Keywords: vanilla, browned butter, depression-era, egg-free, no-egg,