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Vanilla Bean Mini Cake
This is the cake I make when I want something that looks like it took hours but really didn't. A soft vanilla bean sponge, a simple buttercream, and whatever decorations you've got on hand.
Prep30 min
Cook35 min
Total1h 30m
YieldOne 4-inch mini cake (serves 4–6)
DifficultyA little fiddly
Ingredients
- 115g butter, softened
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 150g self-raising flour
- 60ml milk
- For the buttercream
- 125g butter, softened
- 250g icing sugar, sifted
- 1–2 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced) and grease a 4-inch round cake tin.
- Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then mix in the vanilla bean paste.
- Fold in the flour and milk alternately, in two batches, until just combined.
- Pour into the tin and bake for 30–35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
- For the buttercream, beat the butter until pale, then gradually add the icing sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth and spreadable.
- Once the cake is completely cool, ice and decorate as you like.
Bella's tip: The cake must be fully cool before icing, or the buttercream will slide right off. Short on time? Pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes to speed things along.
This one's easy to scale up for a bigger crowd — just double the recipe and use a 6–8 inch tin.