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Baby Cake


I made a cake.
Normally, this would not be big news, it would indicate it's a day that ends in a Y.

In this case, it's newsworthy (at least to me) because it's the first thing I have baked on my own since my accident. My arms and wrists are still ridiculously weak.  I wasn't able to get a big mixing bowl out of the cupboard, nor could I ratchet up my KitchenAid mixer, so I had to make the whole thing in a cereal bowl.  I halved the recipe, and struggled on with a wooden spoon.  I baked the cake in 2 mini cake pans I picked up at Sur la Table in SoHo a few years ago.

I used a recipe from an old cottage cookbook I've had for decades. I have left the original (and minimal) instructions below.  In old cookbooks, they tend to assume you already know what you're doing in the kitchen.  If you aren't an experienced baker, a few tips: use room temperature butter; mix baking soda and powder in with flour first; don't over-mix. This makes a thick batter that needs to be smoothed out in the pan. I didn't have any chips, so mine was just a vanilla cake, but I remember making this years ago with butterscotch chips and loving it.  Even without, it was delicious. Give it a try, full-size or halve it and make your own baby cake! (recipe below)



Chippy (or not) Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon (or more, I love ) vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
2 cups butterscotch or chocolate chips

  1. Cream butter and sugar.  
  2. Add rest of ingredients in order listed.  
  3. Mix well with a spoon.
  4. Pour into greased bundt, angel cake, or 9" square pan
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
I topped mine with a basic buttercream.  I don't really measure, I just took 1/2 stick of butter, added a splash of milk, some vanilla, and enough icing sugar to get to the consistency I like.  Oh, and some food colouring, obviously.

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