Yes, today is officially Alice Medrich Day. On today’s other post is a cookbook review of Alice’s latest book, Flavor Flours. It’s a simple book to describe: it’s a masterpiece. You don’t need to throw out all the white wheat flour in your pantry, but you do want to add some of the many flours she has experimented with. For example, this cake uses a combination of white rice and oat flours. In Flavor Flours, Alice explains all the very positive whys and hows of using these ingredients.
For this particular recipe, Alice says, “Lighter than a pound cake but more substantial than a sponge or chiffon cake, this cake will become you r new basic.” Now, when Alice says “will” you have to listen because, well, it is Alice.
We had just gotten this book the day before and I had spent an afternoon at the gym. On the way home, my phone rang.
“Where are you?” my wife Suzen asked.
“Just leaving Reade Street,” I said.
“Turn around,” she ordered me. “Go to Whole Foods. I’ll text you what to get.”
The text was for white rice and oat flours. This was the recipe I brought them home to, our first experiment from Flavor Flours. It’s a great cake. Our new basic? Yes, I think so. How does it compare to the same butter cake made with regular white flour? I find it hard to describe. There is more flavor, a different grain. Even the batter tastes different and better — yes, I do taste the batter of every cake we make. Hard to describe, easy to fall in love with.
How to serve this cake? This recipe makes two layers and you can do a standard layering with the frosting of your choice. Or you can do one layer at a time, topped with fruit and whipped cream or ice cream. Or, you can use an espresso glaze — look for that recipe in tomorrow’s post!
Ultimate Butter Cake
Yield: serves 12 as a standard two-layer cake
Ingredients:
- 2 ⅔ cups (400 grams) white rice flour or 4 cups (400 grams) Thai white rice flour
- ½ cup (50 grams) oat flour
- 2 cups minus 3 tablespoons (360 grams) sugar
- ½ pound (2 sticks/225 grams) unsalted butter, very soft
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 cup plain yogurt (any percent butterfat) or slightly watered down Greek yogurt
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Equipment:
- Two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans or one 10-inch tube pan with removable bottom or 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan
Preparation:
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the pan(s) with vegetable oil spray or butter and line the bottoms of the layer cake pans with parchment paper.
Combine the rice and oat flours, sugar, butter, and salt in the bowl j of the stand mixer and mix on medium speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture is the texture of brown sugar, about a minute. Add the baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, I yogurt, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes; the batter should be very smooth and fluffy. Scrape into the prepared pan(s) and bake the layers for 25 to 30 minutes, or the tube or Bundt pan for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick j inserted in the center comes out clean and dry. Set the pan(s) on a rack to cool completely.
Slide a thin knife or a small metal spatula around the edges of the layer cakes or the tube pan (and the tube) to detach the cake(s) I from the pan(s). Loosen the cake from the Bundt pan by rapping all sides of the pan against the counter. Invert each cake onto the rack and peel off the parchment liner. Turn the layer cakes right side up.
Source: Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich [Artisan, 2014]
Photo Information: Canon T2i, EFS 60mm Macro Lens, F/5.0 for 1/60th second at ISO‑2500