If first you don't succeed, try and try again!

The first few batches of chocolate cakes i made went rather smoothly with the exception of the very first one (for the Mr.). I got mixed up between the BAKING SODA and BAKING POWDER!

Mum was given the task to read me the ingredients and measurements while i put in all the stuff. So, it's either she said it wrong or i heard her/saw the label wrongly. I highly suspect it was my mother. Kidding. It must be the person who never had any baking experience, obviously. But in the end the cake was fine. Sli......ghtly dry but still good. The buttercream was sweet though.

And then it was time to bake my first vanilla butter cake. One poor soul -who happens to be the SIL wanted me to make a batch of butter cupcakes for her friend's birthday and something went awfully wrong. They all sank leaving a peak like this:


Sorry for the bad drawing. But back to the cakes, not only that it looked bad, it tasted equally horrible too! So that was my 1st real experience of cake tak jadi. I didn't have any contingencies this time because it was ordered at the last minute. So the SIL had to go get a cake from some other place as i couldn't manage to make another round.

Very frustrating it was. Then i tried another butter cake recipe i found at Wilton website on my second attempt and was (extra) vigilant with the ingredients this time too ;) and what do u know.. it was ay, okay! I don't know if it was the recipe but since the latter turned out good, i thought i should just stick to it until i find a better one. Finding the right recipe is NOT easy.

Here's the one i found at the site:

Butter Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon No Color Almond Extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

Makes: About 7 1/2 cups cake batter.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, or use Cake Release.

In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond flavor. Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour; mix well. Pour into prepared pans.

Refer to baking chart, for baking times and temperatures for specific pans.

Cool 10 minutes in pan. Loosen sides and remove. Cool completely before decorating.

Caution: For fellow muslims, please note that ALL Wilton's extract and flavourings contains alcohol EXCEPT for the Clear Butter Flavour.

Extra info: I usually skip the almond extract because i am personally not a fan of the strong smell. But it's all up to you!

Here for more yummy recipes. Good luck! :)