Butter cake
Instructions
Tip
You want there to be no doubt that you are serving a saffron cake. So, to extract as much of the characteristic colour and flavour as possible, soak the saffron threads in ½ tsp hot water for at least 10 minutes before mixing it with the other ingredients. You can also let it soak in 50 ml of cognac as saffron goes very well with alcohol. It will add a fantastic depth to the cake.
Tip
Make sure you store your freshly baked saffron butter cake in an airtight container or wrap it with cling film to keep the cake moist and prevent it from drying out. If stored properly, the cake can stay well in the fridge for a couple of days and still taste delicious.
Tip
Since this butter cake contains yeast, when heating the milk, it is crucial that it has the right temperature as the yeast thrives in warm temperatures. If the milk is too hot (over 45°C), it will kill the yeast, making it ineffective, which means the dough will not rise or have the right texture typical for butter cake.
Questions about butter cake
Our moist and gooey butter cake with saffron is delicious and tenderly sweet. With our easy recipe, you will be able to indulge in a slice of cake in no time. Read below and find out how to make this saffron-flavoured treat and other useful information about this cake.
Ingredients
|
Milk
|
¼ litre |
|---|---|
|
Yeast
|
25 g |
|
Soft butter
|
75 g |
|
Saffron
|
¼ tsp |
|
Sugar
|
3 tbsp |
|
Coarse salt
|
¼ tsp |
|
Wheat flour
|
425 g |
Filling
|
Soft butter
|
25 g |
|---|---|
|
Grated pure, raw marzipan
|
100 g |
|
Brush with eggs
|
Soft butter cake with saffron
Butter cake is moist and tender with a light and fluffy crumb, but we added a little twist to an old-fashioned cake. Discover the delicate flavour in our saffron butter cake that is melt-in-your-mouth divine with an irresistible butter-marzipan filling. This saffron-flavoured treat adds colour and sweet floral notes to the buttery cake. An easy treat, perfect for every occasion!
Try a timeless classic for other buttery soft cakes with our simple recipe for a pound cake or a delicious marble cake combining chocolate and vanilla. Another tasty classic is our soft and gooey cinnamon rolls served with a cup of coffee.
Saffron cake – enjoy baking with the red gold
Saffron is also called ‘the red gold’ as it is one of the most expensive and fine spices in the world. It takes thousands of crocus flowers just to obtain 1 kg of the exotic spice. Luckily, a little goes a long way, so you only need a few threads to flavour your saffron cake. With floral, subtly earthy notes and a vibrant yellow colour, a saffron cake takes a regular, easy butter cake to the next level; it is an absolute delight. The aromatic saffron flavour pairs well with the marzipan and adds sweetness to the cake.
Discover the delicious gooey butter cake
If you have ever tried a traditional German yeast cake (also called German butter cake) or a St. Louis-based ooey gooey butter cake, our recipe for butter cake will seem very similar to either of these. In a way, our butter saffron cake is a slight mix of these two cakes, and yeast is a common denominator. However, instead of adding small lumps of butter to the dough, in our recipe, the butter is spread onto the dough in a thin layer just like you would do with a cinnamon roll. Also, it is worth noting that the gooey butter cake is somewhat flatter and denser, almost brownie-like, compared to a German butter cake and our butter saffron cake, which features a light, buttery, silky-smooth texture.
Using yeast in cake
Ever heard about using yeast in cake? The leavening agent is normally associated with baking bread, but it is also, sometimes, used to create delicious, special kinds of cake. Yeast plays a vital part in creating a fluffy cake with a slightly crumbly texture. The fermentation process causes the yeast to convert the cake’s sugar into carbon dioxide, which expands and makes the cake rise. In addition, fermentation adds some flavour to the cake that you would not get from, for example, baking powder or soda. Just like baking yeasted bread, a yeast cake will need to rise in room-temperature to rise like it should.
Make it your own
You can leave out the saffron and add freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice and zest to give the butter cake a spark of citrus. Flourish the cake with an icing sugar glaze and add lemon or orange juice to the glaze to balance the sweetness. For a final touch, garnish with lemon or orange zest.
Saffron is often considered a Christmas spice. So, this cake can also be made into a fantastic Christmas cake by adding other traditional Christmas flavours. Simply add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, cardamon, and ginger to the batter before baking.
If you do not have saffron to make this exquisite saffron cake, and since the ingredient can be quite expensive, you can substitute it with safflower or turmeric. However, safflower is relatively mild in flavour compared to saffron and differs slightly in colour. While turmeric and saffron are similar in colour, they differ in taste as turmeric has a more bitter flavour. So, if you substitute saffron, you may want to adjust the amount of spice added to the dough.
