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Saffron Butter Cake

Saffron Butter Cake

This saffron infused butter cake is all things delicious - (aromatic) saffron, buttery, moist,tenderly sweet.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Calories 2504 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 225 grams 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (plus a little extra for greasing)
  • 200 grams approx. 1.5 cups all purpose flour/maida
  • 200 grams 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs each egg weighed about 50-60 grams
  • 4 tbsp fresh milk
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 generous pinches of saffron

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • Warm the milk and soak the saffron for at least 20 minutes. The longer you soak, the more flavor you extract.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit (190 degree Celsius).
  • Grease a 9 inch round cake tin with butter (optional: line with parchment paper).
  • In a medium sized bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, baking powder & salt and sieve.

Mixing the cake batter

  • In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar till fluffy and pale in color.
  • Add one egg at a time and beat until the egg is well incorporated and the mixture looks creamy; scraping down the sides while mixing. When you add the egg, start at a low speed to mix and then increase it to medium.
  • Add vanilla essence and the milk (which has the saffron threads) along with the saffron threads and mix well.
  • Sprinkle ⅓ of the (sieved) flour gently and fold into the mixture until well combined. Repeat with the rest of the flour.
  • Pour the batter (batter will be thick) into the prepared cake tin and spread it evenly with a spatula.

Baking

  • Gently tap the sides of the cake tin to remove any air bubbles trapped.
  • Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top of the cake is browned. You can also test the doneness by inserting a tooth pick and if it comes out clean, the cake is baked right. (In case the top of the cake is browining too fast, use an Aluminum foil dome to cover the cake towards the last 15 minutes of baking)
  • Remove the cake from the oven, let it rest in the cake tin for 5 minutes or so. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

Notes

1. Always use clean and dry utensils to prepare the cake.[br]2. Soak the saffron threads for at least 20 minutes, soak longer for better flavor.[br]3.. Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes for best results.[br]4. When adding the eggs, if your batter looks curdled, do not worry. The flour will even it out.[br]5. Break the egg into a small bowl before adding to the batter. This will help remove any bad eggs from spoiling your batter (you can follow this tip for all your cakes, not just this one).[br]6. Save the leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Microwave it for a few seconds just before serving.[br]7. You can make this cake with an 8 inch square tin as well. But in my experience the cake domed a little and had a cracked top. 9 inch round tin gave me the best results (a small dome was still present).[br]8. If you find it hard to remove the cake from the tin, gently run a knife around the edges of the cake tin to loosen it up a bit. [br]9. Grating the butter softens it pretty quick.[br]10. Oven temperatures (and hence baking time) vary considerably depending on the type of the oven, so please your discretion.[br]11. 1 cup= 240 ml. [br]12.For baking I generally rely on weighing the ingredients rather than measuring it in cups. I have seen that I get more reliable results when I weigh the ingredients.