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!

Key ingredients

Flour. Be sure to spoon then level your flour so you don’t pack it in, and always sift with a fine mesh sieve!

Semolina flour. This is key to creating that unique, pound cake-y crumb.

Butter

Baking powder. Be sure it hasn’t been open longer than a few months or it does start to lose its umph, regardless of the indicated expiration date. And be sure it’s been well-sealed! Any moisture getting in will stop it from working properly.

Salt. I highly recommend sea salt, as it helps complement the sweetness better.

Oil. I prefer avocado or grape seed oil, as they are light and tasteless but still heart-healthy. Vegetable or canola oil work, too. You could theoretically use olive oil, but I haven’t tried it and caution that it could have a strong taste.

Sugar. Obviously! You’ll need this in the cake as well as the butter sauce.

Eggs. Use fresh, large eggs and make sure they have reached room temperature.

Vanilla. Always use pure extract in baking, not imitation.

Milk. I suggest whole milk for a richer cake. Be sure it has reached room temperature.

Butter. Only used in the sauce, this is the part that makes the cake decadent, moist, and flavorful.

Water. This is used in the sauce as well, helping it be thin enough to drizzle. You only need a little, but still be sure to use filtered water.

Almond extract. This is optional, but it adds a uniquely Italian flavour that I love.

 

How to make Italian warm butter cake

Make the cake

1. Sift and whisk dry ingredients. Don’t skip the sifting! It’s key to making this cake nice and fluffy.

2. Whisk eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk very well to fully emulsify (blend) it all, especially the eggs and oil.

3. Slowly stir wet ingredients into the dry. Do this on low and immediately stop and scrape the bowl once everything is combined.

4. Beat on medium for exactly 1 minute. Set a timer so you don’t under or over mix.

5. Bake. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out with just some moist crumbs—not fully clean, as this can mean it’s over baked. Remember that it continues to bake a little when you take it out of the oven.

6. Cook butter, water, and sugar. Cook over medium until the sugar has fully dissolved.

7. Add vanilla and almond extracts. I prefer adding these after the sauce has cooked, so I can better control the amounts and flavor.

8. Poke holes in warm-ish cakes. If you made the cakes ahead of time, reheat at 350 for 5 minutes. Then, poke holes in each one with a fork or toothpick.

9. Pour sauce over cakes. Pour 2/3 of the sauce over the cakes while still in the pan. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Turn upside down on serving plates and pour the remaining sauce over the bottoms-turned-tops of the cakes.

10. Top with ice cream or whipped cream. This is technically optional, but it really does make this cake! A simple whipped cream is fine, or you can use vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from poetryandpies