Nutmeg butter cake - perfect with a cup of tea

As much as I love gooey, chocolatey baked goods like last week’s rocky road brownies my Achilles' heel is, really, the simple cakes (as you already know). This butter cake, perfumed with freshly ground nutmeg is the kind of cake I crave most of my days, and even more in cold ones like today because it goes perfectly well with a cup of tea. I’d thought of skipping the glaze all together but at the end I was glad I did not: its crunchy texture and (also) buttery flavor compliment the cake really well.

Nutmeg butter cake
from the Butter Cake Queen

Cake:
3 cups (420g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream*

Glaze:
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, chopped
2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (157g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 14-cup capacity Bundt cake.
Make the cake: sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, then beat well until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl. Blend in the vanilla.
On low speed, alternately add the sifted ingredients in three additions with the sour cream in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 55 minutes or until risen, golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minute – in the meantime, make the glaze: place the butter, sugar and nutmeg in a small, heavy saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is slightly dissolved. Remove from the heat. Unmold the cake onto the rack and brush it generously with the glaze. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 16 – I made ¾ of the recipe above and baked it in a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan