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SAMPLE RECIPES:

1. Anna's Swedish Butter Cake

2. Basic Yeast-Risen Coffee Cake
Variations:
- Rolled Horseshoe, Spiral Twist, Top Braid
- Honey-Yogurt Yeast Coffee Cake
- Apple-Nut Filling
- Streusel Filling
- Poppyseed Streusel Filling
- Jam Filling

3. Marleni's Apple Cake


Book Description
Originally published as A Piece of Cake, this baking classic is now back in print, thoroughly revised, and beautifully redesigned.

Author of
The Perfect Pie and renowned baking authority Susan Purdy has spent a lifetime mastering the art of baking perfect cakes–those mysterious delicacies that are not too dry, not too dense, and never stuck to the pan. Revealing her secrets for the complete range of easy to elegant recipes, The Perfect Cake gives every home baker an extra helping of confidence.

With Purdy at your side sharing her precise troubleshooting tips and clever shortcuts, layer cakes, sheet cakes, sponge cakes, angel-food and chiffon cakes, tortes, and jelly rolls become wonderfully feasible. Helping readers skillfully create everything from a simple pound cake to Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Black-and-White Cheesecake, or Hazelnut Torte, The Perfect Cake features easy decorating pointers that are sure to impress on special occasions. Providing a selection of more than 150 exceptional recipes, this is the book that will keep even the novice from ever resorting to mediocre mixes again.

The Perfect Cake
150 cakes for Every taste and Occasion
by Susan Gold Purdy

Publisher:
Broadway Books
Date: April 2002
ISBN: 0767905377

Paperback

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Anna's Swedish Butter Cake
From: The Perfect Cake by Susan Gold Purdy
(Broadway Books; April 2002; ISBN:0767905377; PB)
Cookbook Heaven @
Recipelink.com

Anna Olson’s Swedish Butter Cake has been a tradition in my family since Anna shared her recipe with my mother. Not only is it easy to make, but it is rich without being too sweet, has a fine tender crumb, and seems to taste better the longer it stands. In short, it is the perfect cake for every day, and every occasion. To serve with tea or coffee in the afternoon, we bake it in a tube pan and dust it lightly with confectioners’ sugar, all the topping it really needs. For birthdays, we bake 2 heart-shaped layers and fill and frost them with buttercream. For weddings, this cake is ideal; it can be stacked in many tiers. Over the years, we have devised all sorts of variations, from chocolate to orange (see recipes following), but we always come back to Anna’s original—plain almond butter cake; it is the best. My daughter proved this for us all when, at the age of eleven, she won two blue ribbons with this recipe for Best Cake at the Bridgewater, Connecticut, Firemen's Country Fair, and Best Butter Cake at the Goshen, Connecticut, 4-H Fair.

Note: As a young girl in Sweden, Anna learned to hand-mix this cake with a wooden spoon, and she steadfastly held to her preference for this method, which produces a rather dense texture. I use the electric mixer, which lightens the cake somewhat but does not detract in any way from its success.

Advance Preparation
The cake can be baked in advance, wrapped airtight, and stored at room temperature for a week. It can also be frozen. One day after it is baked, the cake’s flavors mellow to perfection and it is more easily sliced than when fresh from the oven.

Special Equipment
One 9—inch tube pan (6 1/2-cup Capacity) or two 9-inch layer pans or one 8-inch-square pan 2-inches deep; large mixing bowl and wooden spoon, or electric mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment)

Baking Time
55 to 60 minutes at 350F (175C) for tube pan; 30 to 35 minutes for layers

Quantity
About 4 1/2 cups batter, one 9-inch tube cake or one 2-layer 9-inch cake (serves 8). Recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Pan Preparation
Spread solid shortening on bottom and sides of pan(s), dust evenly with flour; tap out excess flour.

  • 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces; 240 g) plus 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup lightly salted butter (not margarine) (2 sticks, 230 g), at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces; 300 g)
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract (vanilla extract can be substituted)
  • Confectioners' sugar (optional)
  1. Prepare pan(s) as described. Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 3500F (1750C). 
  2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt onto a piece of wax paper. Set aside.
  3. With a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl or with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

    Alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, beating after each addition, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. Stir in the almond or vanilla extract.
  4. Spoon batter into the prepared pan(s), level the top, then spread the batter slightly toward the pan edges. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes for a tube cake or 30 to 35 minutes for layers, or until the top is golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Cool the cake in its pan(s) on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then run a knife blade around the edge of the cake. Top with another rack or plate, invert, and lift off the pan(s). Cool the cake completely before sifting on confectioners’ sugar or adding a frosting of your choice.
VARIATIONS

Anna’s Orange Butter Cake
Prepare Anna’s Swedish Butter Cake, but add the grated zest of 1 1/2 oranges and replace the milk with 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice. Use 1 teaspoon orange extract instead of almond or vanilla. Ice with Orange Buttercream Frosting or Orange Glaze or Orange Wine Icing

Anna’s Chocolate Butter Cake
Prepare Anna’s Swedish Butter Cake, but replace 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch—process, and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.



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