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Whoever it was who wrote to the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch and requested the recipe for Helfer’s Pastry Shop’s
Deep Butter Cake has my deepest gratitude. That cake has been a favorite of
mine since the seventies. That fact that
I can now make it at home makes me swoon.
It was quite by accident that I stumbled upon it here and, naturally,
had to make it immediately. It was as
good as the version the shop sells, but I like to think that my adaptation of
their already delicious recipe is what makes it Food for the Gods. The above link will take you to the original
recipe, my adaptation is below.
Deep Butter Cake
from Helfer's
Pastries and Deli Cafe adapted by Pattie Tierney
For crumb mixture:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor (see note)
1 cup all-purpose flour
For batter:
11/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Butter Sweet Dough Flavor
13/4 cups cake flour
Powdered sugar, for garnish
Prepare the crumb mixture. In a small mixer bowl beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add salt, vanilla, butter flavoring and flour; beat at low speed
just until crumbly. Cover and refrigerate.
Prepare the batter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and
flour an 8-inch-square baking pan.
Combine 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 cup butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a
large mixer bowl; beat on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add
eggs; beat on high speed 2 to 3 minutes or until light.
Combine milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon butter
flavoring. Alternately add cake flour and milk mixture to batter, starting and
ending with flour. Beat on low speed, scraping sides of bowl, until well mixed.
Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly in prepared pan. Spread batter over
crumb mixture. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until top is deep golden brown and cake
tests done in the center with a wooden pick. Cool 5 minutes.
Place a flat plate or cake board on top of the pan. Hold the pan
and plate together securely; turn over. Carefully remove the pan. (The crumb
side is now the top of the cake.) Dust with powdered sugar.
Note: According to the original recipe, the inclusion of butter
flavoring is essential to the success of this recipe. While butter flavoring may have its place, it
can’t hold a candle to this wonderful bakery emulsion. You can find it on Amazon here. Trust me when I tell you that you’ll never be sorry that
you have this ingredient in your pantry.
It makes a world of difference, transforming your tasty pastries and
baked goods into bakery shop quality products.
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