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Valentine Vanilla Mini-Butter Cakes

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IN THIS POST

Let’s talk about cake. Let’s talk about how I completely screwed this cake up yesterday. Now, let’s talk about how the struggle was totally worth it in the end. I may have mentioned before that I am not a huge cake baker. Cupcakes I can do, but when it comes to actually cake cakes, I’m not very good at making them. Maybe it’s my lack of patience. I’m not quite sure. So yesterday, I attempted to make a vanilla butter cake from scratch. Things seem to be going smoothly, until I realized I accidentally used baking soda instead of baking powder. The thing was, I KNEW I needed to use baking powder, but was so distracted by something (I’m not quite sure what that something was) that I used baking soda instead. Let’s just say I tried to compensate for the use of baking soda by adding baking powder. What did I conclude? THIS…DOES…NOT…WORK. Your cake will fall in on itself. I promise you. It was a disaster.

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There is a solution to this problem if you do happen to use baking soda instead of baking powder, but it requires the addition of cream of tartar. You need 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda. I actually knew this yesterday when I was obliterating my cake, but I didn’t have cream of tartar, so I played the “let’s see how it turns out if I do this” game. Ugh, what a mess. I was so sad. Another thing that I think helped in my cake turning into mush, was the vessel I was using. I used a 9x13in baking dish. What did I learn? Homemade cake batter is not like the boxed stuff. You can’t just through it in a 9x13in dish and expect it to come out the same as Betty Crocker. Choose your vessels wisely. I used smaller round pans today, and it worked beautifully.

Also, I blame the altitude. I know I blame the altitude a lot, but seriously whose counting?

A test of patience, that’s for sure!

I love these little cakes. Not only are they ABSOLUTELY delicious, they are pretty cute too! They are buttery and sweet and moist: Just perfect I tell ya. I like the thought of these cakes for Valentine’s Day because they are quite the splurge. I don’t even want to tell you how much butter and sugar goes into them, so just read ahead to the recipe. It’s a lot, but it’s so worth it! Especially for a holiday =).

Pretty cute, huh?

We decided to go ahead and pair this cake with a beer that’s a voluptuous as the cake itself. I could think of no other brew to use besides Stone’s Smoked Vanilla Porter. Hello, vanilla bean cake with a vanilla bean beer? It was a match made in heaven. Porters are perfect with desserts. They are dark and robust and full of flavor, but not so much that they take over your tastebuds. I could be wrong, but I believe this beer is available just about everywhere, and they brew it constantly. You should have no issues finding it. Also, you probably aren’t going to find it in a 4 or 6-pk. They are usually sold in single bottles or by the case.

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine’s Day!

Enjoy!

 
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Justine

Justine

I’m the voice, author, creator, and photographer behind Cooking and Beer. We started things about 10 years ago and Cooking and Beer has morphed and grown into what it is today: providing hundreds of recipes to thousands of people.

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Hello! I'm Justine.

I’m a blogger and web developer from the beautiful state of Oklahoma, where my loving husband, two adorable kids, and two mischievous dogs keep me on my toes 24/7. My idea of heaven includes endless summer days, getting lost in a good book, and whipping up some delicious homemade bread.

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