Italian Warm Butter Cake
This Italian style warm butter cake has a luscious, perfectly textured sponge reminiscent of a fluffy pound cake, all soaked with a warm butter sauce. Topped with ice cream or whipped cream and berries, this cake is decadent and far simpler to make than you’d expect!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 cup (136g) flour, spooned then leveled
- ½ cup (88g) fine semolina flour
- ½ teaspoons (2g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (2g) sea salt
- ½ cup (112g) light oil (avocado, grape seed, canola, etc.)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ tablespoon (7g) pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
For the warm butter soak
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113g) salted butter
- ⅓ cup (80g) water
- ½ teaspoon (2g) almond extract (optional)
- 1 teaspoon (4g) pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Lightly butter and flour (or spray with baking spray) the wells of a regular cupcake pan. You may need to use a few wells of a second pan, depending on the size. Alternatively, you can use about 12 small ramekins or mini springform pans.
- In a medium mixing bowl, use a large fine mesh sieve to sift then whisk together flour, semolina flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In another medium to large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, vanilla, milk, and sugar. Whisk well for about one minute, until well blended and the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- Gently whisk in the flour mixture until combined and no streaks of flour remain (some lumps are okay).
- Pour into your prepared cupcake pan(s), filling about ⅔ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle cupcake comes out clean. Check early, as climate, elevation, and individual ovens can cause the bake time to vary.
- Let cakes cool in the pan 5-10 minutes while you make the warm butter sauce. If not serving right away, let cakes cool in the pan then reheat for 5-10 minutes while you make the sauce immediately before serving.
- For the sauce, combine the sugar, butter, and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved, stirring frequently.
- Add the almond and vanilla extracts.
- Using a fork, toothpick, kebab stick, or something similar, poke holes all over the cakes (still in the warm pan). Pour or brush about ⅔ of the sauce over the cakes and let soak in. Brushing is ideal because you can layer on the sauce.
- Carefully remove each cake to its serving plate, turning it upside down. Brush with remaining sauce. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Recipe from Poetry & Pies