How to bake the best butter cake- a practical guide.

Once you have mastered the basic techniques, you can improvise the recipe with other ingredients and flavor
agents complete with attractive decoration.
Section one- The choice of ingredients for butter cake
There are only a few fundamental ingredients that determine the texture and flavor of the cake. Let’s take a look
at how do I choose these items for my butter cake.
Flour
My regular baking ingredients supplier told me that the flour I use is wheat flour which contains eight percent
protein.
The protein in the flour plays a significant role in making cakes. When flour and water mix, the gluten proteins
in the flour will bond to each other and form an elastic mass that can expand to accommodate gas bubbles
produced. [6]
Gluten is the tough and stretchable protein that forms when the flour mix with water. It contributes to the
structure of the cake. However, too much protein in the flour can cause the cake become rubbery. [1] I find that
the wheat flour with 8% of gluten give just adequate structural support and yet does not toughen the cake. In
general, wheat flour with 8 to 10 percent protein is ideal for making butter cake.
"Use wheat flour with eight to ten percent of protein content for butter cake."
Egg
I use medium size fresh egg which is about 55g per egg. The size of the egg does not affect the quality of my
cake. However, I always prefer to measure the eggs by weight instead of the number of eggs required. The size
eggs sold here ranges from 48g to 60g per piece. Since the largest one is 25% bigger than the smallest one, it is
only logical to measure by weight to get the correct quantity.
A batch of my butter cake requires 1200g of the egg. I crack all the eggs without worrying about the size of the
eggs until it reaches the required quantity shown on the weighing scale.
Since my egg vendor supplies eggs to me twice a week, I always can get the freshest egg available. I store the
eggs at room temperature since I can use up all of them within three days. If you are making it at home, please
store the eggs in the refrigerator.
Use fresh eggs to make the best butter cake as there are only a few ingredients to contribute flavor. You can find
out the freshness of the eggs by putting them in a bowl of water. If the eggs sink to the bottom, the eggs are
fresh. Bad eggs will float on the surface of the water.[2]
"Always choose the freshest eggs to make the  cake."
Milk and fruit juice

Milk and fruit juice provide additional moisture to the cake. I use full cream milk which
contains 3.3% of milk fat for the basic butter cake formula. You can use low-fat milk, but
it will not give you the best butter cake flavor you want.
I am looking for the best flavor, not the best food for health. So just forget about the low-
fat diet and indulge in what is nice to eat.
You can substitute milk with fruit juice If you make a fruit cake. My orange cake contains
orange juice instead of milk.
"Add full cream milk or fruit juice to the formula for additional moisture."
Baking powder
I keep the amount of baking powder to the minimum since the creaming of
butter and sugar will provide sufficient leavening power. The amount of
baking powder I use is only 6g for 1200g of flour.
Most of the baking powder sold over the counter are double acting. This type
of baking powder releases the gas in two phases. Carbon dioxide will form
once the baking powder contact with water from the egg or milk. This
process takes place immediately, and gas will release within two minutes due
to an immediate chemical reaction. [3] The second phase happens during
baking when the temperature rises to about 60°C. At this time, another
chemical reaction will trigger by the heat in the oven.  The expansion of gas within the cake batter will cause
the cake to rise.
On the contrary, the single acting baking powder does not have the chemical to form more gas during the
second phase in the oven. Since all the gas will release right after the baking powder contact with water, you
need to work immediately as the leavening effect will diminish over time.
Therefore, double acting baking powder is more reliable and is always my choice.
"Use double acting baking powder, and make sure it is not expired."
Salt

Salt balances the sweetness of sugar and give a more alluring flavor
combinations to the cake. I alway use unsalted butter for making cakes, as I
can control the amount of salt in the recipe. My magic formula is one gram
of salt for one hundred gram of flour.   This amount of salt balances the
sweetness of sugar perfectly.
Some brands of butter are salted, mainly as table butter for the bread. Most
of the salted butter contain one percent of salt, and therefore you should omit
adding salt in such cases.
"Use one percent of salt for the best result."

Sugar
I use either  granulated or castor sugar to make butter cake. The granulated sugar I get in Malaysian is slightly
courser than the castor sugar. Both types of sugar produce an excellent result as long as I cream the sugar with
butter until very light and fluffy.
I have not tried coarse sugar (those sugar to make syrup) or icing sugar (for my melt-in-the-mouth cookies) in
the butter cake formula. I am satisfied with the result of granulated or castor sugar, so I just stick to them.
"Use granulated or castor sugar."
Butter
The quantity and quality of the butter will affect the flavor of the cake.
As the name implies, the best butter cake should have rich butter flavor. I use 1300g of unsalted butter for every
1200g of flour for one batch of cake. (Read on to see how I set up my butter cake formula.). The high amount of
butter in this recipe satisfied the most uncompromising palate of my customers.
I have used different brands of unsalted butter for my cake in the last few years. Each of them results in a
slightly different flavor and color, but SCS brand of butter has the best flavor among all the butter I used. The
result showed that expensive brands provide a better flavor, although this might not happen in all cases.
I only use one trusted brand of butter because it gives me the best flavor. It also assures the consistency of the
quality which is of paramount importance in any cafe and bakery.
"Use the best butter available. Butter is the single most important ingredient for you cake."
Section two- How do I set up the butter cake recipe
Here is the list of ingredients and their relative amount to flour. Note that I have rounded the quantity of flour to
100. When I mention 80 percent, that means I use 80g of a particular ingredient for every 100g of flour I used.
The relative quantity of ingredients for butter cake
Cake flour: 100g Salt:  1g Baking powder:  0.5g Egg:  100g Milk:  18g
Butter:  110g Sugar: 80g
Let me explain the rationale how I calculate the amount of each ingredient.
Cake flour
In reality, I used 1200g of flour to make four-eight inches square cake per batch. The quantity is 12 times of the
above amount. You may notice that the amount of flour, egg, butter and sugar are quite close to each other. The
formula of the basic pound cake consists of an equal amount of flour, egg, butter, and sugar. I improvised the
pound cake formula to achieve the flavor the texture I want.
Salt
One gram of salt is the ideal amount for every 100g of flour. Salt balances the sweetness of sugar and makes the
flavor more rounded. Bear in mind that the amount should be minimum and should only be a subtle presence.
Baking powder
I use far less than the accepted maximum amount which is four percent. The higher amount of baking powder
can produce too much gas, forming larger bubbles and a coarser texture. the best butter should have a fine
texture, smooth and soft like a sponge.
I only use 0.5% of baking powder to get a velvety and smooth texture. The creaming of sugar and butter will
provide sufficient leavening effect to the cake.
Egg
The amount of egg is the same as flour in the recipe.  Eggs give support to the body and structure of the cake.
My goal is to formulate a butter cake which is soft and moist.  In theory, more eggs mean more moisture since
about 70% of the content of the egg is water. In fact, too much egg can make the cake dry, as a result of the
denaturation of the protein. (Imagine eating hard boiled eggs). Therefore part of the moisture of the cake should
come from the milk.
Milk
I only use full cream milk for my cake.  There is 3.3% of milk fat in full cream milk, which contribute the best
butter cake flavor and the soft texture.
Butter
The initial formula of my butter cake has 70g of butter for every 100g of flour. Currently, I use 110g of butter
for every 100g of flour to get a richer butter flavor. The cake with the higher amount of butter is more tender
and softer. So far I have not tested anything more than 110g, as my customers are happy with it. However, I
have seen other people make the best butter cake with a higher amount of butter. Celia of Foodelicacy.com uses
455g of butter and 310g of flour in her Nyonya butter cake, which means there is a whopping 146g of butter for
every 100g of flour used. [
Sugar
Sugar and butter are the tenderizers of the cake. Most professional bakers agree that the amount of sugar should
be at least eighty percent of flour.  I use a smaller amount of sugar now because my customers preferred cakes
with lower sugar content.
The less amount of sugar is balanced by the higher amount of butter in the formula. As a result, the cake is still
moist and tender.
Conclusion
Baking is more of science than art. I set up the formula based on the guideline that has been set by the
professional and validated with recipe testing. As you know by now, you do not need a recipe if you know the
rationale. Formulate the recipe according to your wish.