The old-school butter cake is my Hainanese mother-in-law’s favorite cake of all time! Every time we celebrate her birthday with some fancy cake, she always says “Don’t give me any other cake, butter cake is still the best!”
So, I finally got down to bake the perfect butter cake. I consulted many old recipe books to recreate that old-school buttery flavor and texture that is irresistible with a cup of Hainanese kopi. After many failed attempts I finally managed to come up with a recipe that my mum-in-law likes.
There are only four main ingredients in butter cake: butter, eggs, flour, and sugar. So, if you want to recreate that old-school flavor, you need to use SCS butter, which Singaporeans have enjoyed for generations!
For years, I have wondered what makes SCS the preferred butter among local bakers. I finally found out that, unlike most other butters, SCS butter undergoes a double-churning process, giving the butter its unique flavor and texture.
This Chinese New Year, you can purchase the butter cake from Hainan Story. I have been working closely with the baker to replicate the same butter cake I bake at home. You can rest assured that there are no preservatives or margarine in the cake, only one block of SCS butter, eggs, flour, and sugar! I hope it will evoke nostalgia for the entire family!
Remember, Aunty Lina says “Don’t give me any other cake, butter cake is still the best!”
Recipe Card
Prep time: 25 mins
Baking Time: 55 mins
Yields: 6 inch Square Cake
Ingredients
Yellow Team
- SCS slightly salted butter 227g (1 block)
- Self-raising flour 180g (or Cake flour with 1 tsp baking powder)
- Castor sugar 150g
- Sour Cream 45g (3 Tbsp)
- Egg yolk 70g (from 4 x 60g eggs)
- Vanilla extract/essence 1 tsp
- Salt 1/4 tsp (optional)
White Team
- Egg whites 150g (from 4 x 60g eggs)
- Cream of Tartar 1/2 tsp
Method
- Bring the butter out of the fridge, divide into 2 cm slices and place in mixing bowl to thaw.
- Separate the eggs while still cold
- Line the cake pan with baking paper
- Wet the baking strips (if using) and secure around the 6-inch square cake pan.
- Beat the butter and sugar until it turns pale white.
- Add sour cream and vanilla essence and mix till fully incorporated
- Add yolks one at a time. Mix each yolk until fully incorporated before adding the next yolk
- Sift the flour and add to the yellow team. Mix at low speed (2) till the all the flour has almost disappeared.
- Set yellow team aside
- Whip egg whites until foamy
- Add cream of tartar and whip till stiff peaks
- Add 1/2 of the whites to the yellow and and fold till the whites are incorporated.
- Add the rest of the egg whites and fold until all the egg whites have just disappeared.
- Pour into cake tin and smoothen the top
- Bake in pre-heated 160°C oven for 55mins or until the top of the cake is springy and a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool the cake upside down on a cooling rack until completely cool.
- Overturn the cake onto a cake board and leave overnight for the flavours to mature. (If you can resist)
Moist and Fluffy Butter Cake
The recipe will yield a beautifully moist and fluffy butter cake with a nice brown crust that will have your friends and family asking for seconds!
Responses to some common questions:
Instead of self-rising flour, you may use cake flour with 1 tsp of baking powder. Plain flour can be used instead of cake flour but I find the latter to yield a softer texture.
You may reduce the sugar by 20g if you like but no more than that.
I use sour cream in the recipe to increase the moisture of the cake. You may go the really traditional way and use condensed milk instead. But I find the cake to be too sweet hence the use of sour cream.
Butter Cake at The Hainan Story
You may purchase this cake at any The Hainan Story outlets. As these cakes are made without any preservations, it is best consumed within 3 days of purchasing. They may be kept in the fridge for up to two weeks, unopened.
Best way to enjoy your butter cake is to slice to about 1 – 2 cm thickness and warm them in the oven (160oC) for 5 mins, before serving. I like to have them with a cup of Teh C and Lisa, a cup of Kopi C.
The Hainan Story outlets we’ve reviewed:
- The Hainan Story at Tampines Mall
- The Hainan Story Introduction and Hainan Story Bakery at Hillion Mall
- The Hainan Story Chapter One at Hotel Boss
- The Hainan Story Chapter Two at Jewel
- The Hainan Story : Coffee House at NEX
Disclosure: the production of the recipe video is sponsored by SCS Dairy Singapore and The Hainan Story.
Doc, I am diabetic but I love SCS butter cakes. Can I reduce the sugar?
Yes, you can. Try using low GI sugar that is mixed with artificial sweeteners.
Hi Constance. I am also a diabetic and I use Lakanto (monk fruit extract) as a sugar substitute.
Hi Dr Leslie. I baked the butter cake today following the instructions and baked it at 160 degrees on a regular convection oven for 55 mins. I inserted a skewer to test if the cake was cooked. The skewer came out clean. However after the cake cooled down, the middle wasn’t cooked. Additionally, I left the baking pan on and turned upside down on a cooling rack. Questions: 1. Is 160 degrees for regular convection oven? Or is it fan forced? 2. Should I remove the pan while cooling on the rack? As for the parts of the cake that were cooked, I am most impressed with the taste. It was heavenly.
160 is non fan forced. Also my cake pan is black. If you are using aluminium, increase the temperature to 170C. Every oven is different, so you might want to invest in an oven thermometer so you can gauge the real temperature in the oven. Hope your next cake will be perfect!
Don’t have 6″ square tin.can use 8″ square tin.pls advise.thks.
Your cake will be lower and you will have to reduce the time in the oven. If you have a 7 inch round tin, you can use that or 9 by 4 inch loaf pan
Hi, I just bake the butter cake last Saturday.Have a doubt to ask u.how come bottom of cake one thin line look wet but is not wet.Overall the cake taste very fragrance and delicious.thks in anticipation for your reply.
Did you remove the cake immediately from the pan after baking or did you leave it in the pan?
Did Hainan Story change your recipe? I bought it when it was first out and it was great, albeit a little too sweet. But when I bought it again yesterday, it was super sweet and I don’t know if they used extra butter essence or something but it left a bad artificial aftertaste that’s hard to describe.
It’s a pity though. I thought I’d found my holy grail go to butter cake supplier
I hope you can give it a try again and see if it’s still up to your standard. And if not, pls send them your feedback
Hi Celebrian,
Thanks for your feedback. We have just checked with them and seems like the recipe has not been changed. Nonetheless, we are going to do another taste test to double check. Thanks for your support. Kind Regards, Lisa
Yes! Please do 🙏🏻
Cos we have bought at least 10 whole cakes since the launch with Hainan Story as my family are huge fans of your butter cake recipe, esp my parents. It’s a taste of nolstagia for them and reminds them of my late grandparents
My mum used to bake it according to Dr Tay’s recipe (with less sugar) and our whole family would eat it for days without getting sick of it!
But her health has deteriorated of late so Hainan Story has been our go to and its such a comfort food for my elderly parents, esp my mum, who has been diagnosed with diabetes. She would savour every little bite with such a blissful expression each time
The last one we bought from Hainan Story (before yesterday’s one) was perhaps a couple months back?
It felt like it had already changed at that time but we thought we simply bought a bad batch.
But when we tried it again yesterday, we really felt that it’s a lot sweeter and the artificial aftertaste feeling is a lot more pronounced than what we remembered 😔😔
So really hope Hainan Story can bring the taste from Dr Tay’s original recipe back! And if possible, a healthier version with less sugar would be a much appreciated bonus! 🙏🏻☺️
Thank u so so much for everything! It’s not just a recipe or a cake to buy for us. It has brought my family so much joy. And beautiful memories that we share and pass on to our young ones ☺️
Hi Celebrian – thanks for sharing your heartfelt story. We are heartened to be a part of your family’s buttercake experience and memory!
We did a taste test again and frankly couldn’t taste much difference. As such, it could have been a once-off problem. Nonetheless, the people at The Hainan Story are taking your feedback seriously and may contact you for a little more information if that’s okay.
And yes, we hear you about doing a less sweet version! As our current collaboration with The Hainan Story is coming to a close soon, we shall take this into consideration for any future collabs.
Thanks again for your kind support and we wish you, your mom and rest of your family good health and Happy Eating! 🙂