Square White Cake
A white cake recipe that fits perfectly into an 8 inch square pan.
Servings 8 people
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cake flour (170 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt (Morton kosher)
- 3 tablespoons nonfat plain Greek yogurt**
- 1 tablespoon whole milk (14 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla plus ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still fairly cool (56 grams)
- 3 ½ tablespoons shortening (40 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup egg whites, room temperature (3 large eggs)
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2-3 tablespoons sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square metal baking pan.
- Sift the cake flour once, then sift it or whisk it together with the baking powder and salt. Sometimes salt won't go through the sifter, so just stir it in if there's salt left in the sifter.
- Also, mix together the yogurt, milk and extracts in a little bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter, shortening and sugar until creamy. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, for about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer going, gradually add the egg whites in about 4 to 6 additions, scraping the bowl between additions and beating for 20-30 seconds.
- With the mixer on medium low speed or by hand, add the flour mixture and the yogurt mixture in three additions, scraping the side of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, you may find it easier to just remove the mixing bowl from the stand and do this with a heavy duty scraper. If you are not messy with flour, you can dump it in with the mixer going.
- Whip the cream in a separate bowl using a handheld mixer. Fold it into the batter with a heavy duty scraper. Make it a party and fold in some sprinkles! Or skip them. They look pretty in this cake.
- Pour the cake in the pan and drop it on the counter from about ½ inch high (do it twice) to release air bubbles.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cake appears done. It will appear slightly brown on the edges and not be quite as pale in the middle. Let it cool completely in the pan. Frost it in the pan. Alternatively, you can let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and turn it out to cool.
Notes
The yogurt mixed with milk was my stand-in for ¼ cup of buttermilk. If you have buttermilk you can use ¼ cup of buttermilk and omit the yogurt and whole milk.
