Eggless Vanilla Bean Cake With Butterscotch Frosting

Posted on by Anushruti
Eggless Vanilla Bean Cake With Butterscotch Frosting

My family always makes me feel special on my birthdays. Last week was another reminder of another year gone by! The day began with phone calls from family and friends. Fresh flowers lovingly decorated by my mother and aunt and bouquets in my living room greeted me when I walked out of my room in the morning. Ro has started a tradition of giving me 2 bouquets, one from him and one from baby Harivansh until the time he is old enough to start doing so himself. What was unusual about this birthday was the presence of my precious one year old and the realisation that I have been inducted to the motherhood club. Perhaps I was too dazed to realize this last year with a 6 week old new born around.


My knight in shining armour and my santa claus who also happens to be my husband (;-) ) fulfilled each and every wish of mine by carrying all the items that I wanted right from fleur de sel to an ice cream maker, a pizza stone et al from the States. The piece de resistance was however something that I had been craving for a while. A Canon 5D Mark2. Yes folks! I now have it with me! With an L lens to boot! With one stroke on a single day, this man managed to give me everything that I have wanted in the recent past. My mother, aunt and cousin  were visiting us and the two women took charge of my kitchen and prepared a lavish lunch that included all my favourites. My mother knows exactly how to please me with food!


I made this cake for my cousin Vedika who is extremely fond of cakes. It is a slight variation of my eggless vanilla cake as I have used the vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract. I love the magic of vanilla and how it tranforms, transcends and flavours a dessert. It has the wonderful ability to complement, yet hold its own.

And the butterscotch frosting is delicious and a splendid, though unusual way of icing a cake. Try this cake for a wonderful burst of taste and flavour at every bite!

Eggless Vanilla Bean Cake with Butterscotch frosting recipe

You can use light brown sugar in the cake batter or regular white sugar for a whiter looking cake with a pronounced vanilla flavour.

Ingredients:

For the Eggless Vanilla bean cake:

  • 225 gm (8 oz/about 1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp) plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda/sodium bicarbonate
  • 1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
  • 100 gm/about 1 stick butter
  • 200 ml (7 fl oz/ ¾  cup) milk
  • 30 gm (2 tbsp) granulated light brown sugar or regular sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Butterscotch Frosting*

  • 75 gm  (6 tbsp) butter, softened
  • 75 ml (5 tbsp) milk (add more or less milk depending on the consistency of the desired frosting)
  • 40 gm (3 tbsp) soft light brown sugar
  • 350 gm (2 1/2 cups) icing or confectioners sugar, sifted
  • Flaked almonds and cashews, toasted or plain (optional)

Method:

To make the Cake:

  • In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade or an electric coffee mill,  put the sugar and the chopped vanilla bean, if using and pulse until the vanilla bean is finely ground. I like to see the specks of the vanilla bean as it adds flavour and visual appeal to the cake. You could sieve the vanilla sugar using a fine mesh, if you dont want to see the vanilla specks. If not using the vanilla bean, just put the sugar in the processor.
  • Grease and line the bottom of a 9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper/baking parchment/butter paper. If using a ring cake pan (like how I have) or a bundt pan, there is no need to line the pan but its necessary to grease the pan with butter or oil and dust it with plain flour. Preheat the oven at 150 C/300 F.
  • In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon and sieve once to make the mixture uniform.
  • In a bowl assemble the butter and sugar and beat (with a hand mixer or a wire whisk or in a stand mixer) until smooth and creamy.
  • Put in the condensed milk and beat until the mixture is combined, about a couple of minutes. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract if not using the vanilla bean and beat until the mixture is well mixed.
  • Stir in the flour mixture and mix with a spoon, whisk or the legs of the hand mixer before starting to beat again. This will prevent the flour from getting dispersed outside the mixing bowl.
  • Beat until the mixture is uniform and smooth and there are no lumps. This shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes with an electric hand mixer/beater. Dont over beat the batter as this might interfere with the softness of the cake.
  • Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 C/300F.

To make the Butterscotch Frosting:

  • In a saucepan, melt the butter over a medium flame. Stir in the soft brown sugar and the milk and remove from the heat source. Mix well until the sugar melts and you have a smooth sauce.
  • Stir in the icing sugar and beat until smooth and glossy.
  • Place the cake on a cooling rack and spread the icing, smoothening the top and sides with a palette knife.
  • Pour immediately over the cake for a smooth finish or allow to cool for a thicker spreading consistency.
  • Sprinkle the flaked almonds and cashews over the top of the cake.

Butterscotch frosting recipe adapted from here.

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34 thoughts on “Eggless Vanilla Bean Cake With Butterscotch Frosting”

  1. Wow.. What a lovely birthday celebration. The flowers looks so good and I hope you had a great day too. 🙂 Wow.. you got all what you wanted. Thats more than special I believe. 🙂

    The cake looks fantastic and smooth. As ever awesome photographs. Yours is one of the best site that I follow. 🙂 Keep it going buddy.

  2. Next year hopefully we'll get to celebrate together. The cake looks lovely- love the shape and can almost imagine the taste!! Can also imagine how thrilled you are with the 5 D, congratulations, you're all set !!!!!! 🙂

  5. Belated birthday wishes to you. Wow.your knight surely knows how to keep you happy.Loved the cake too.Hope to see more clicks with your new camera!

  6. Belated birthday wishes dear Anu!!

    Yet another masterpiece from you.You really inspire me to nose dive completely into eggless baking!!I have tried your Chocolate Cake and Fruit Cake..this one's next!!

  7. happy happy birthday anu! hope you had a real blast. families are awesome right? i love the cake it looks rich and moist. the frosting is seriously the best thing on this though!

  8. my dearest anu,
    the photos are amazing
    admire your patience,determination n
    ur perfection in presenting things as isee from school days
    oh with akid not easy
    god bless u my child keep it up

    amma

  11. Hi Anu,

    I am a taurean too….April 27`th…So I am guessing that you would be a taurean too!!! Hope you have a wonderful birthday and a great year ahead…And congrats on the ice cream maker, the pizza stone, and of course the 5D Mark 2…and the L series…another macro lens? I am happy fr you Anu…Have a blast!

  12. Rather belated but heartfelt birthday wishes to you. Can see you really had the birthday of your dreams! 😀

  15. Anu Akkaaa.
    Ahh. Good times.
    The Cake looks amazing, just like it did when i was there. 🙂
    It tasted even more delicious. 🙂
    Great shots. Thank god we got them before the light faded away. 😉
    Thanks again anu akka. It definitely makes me go down memory lane and think of all the fun i had. 🙂

  16. My dear Anu, belated Happy B'day! My my looks like the day was splendid! Great looking cake! Well, in a year or two your son will make his version of a b'day card for you that would find its way on top of the lovely bouquet I'm sure 🙂

  17. Happy belated birthday. What a wonderful family you have. Looks like you got lots of great goodies. And this cake…to die for!

  19. Anu, lovely looking cake and amazing pics:) my mouth is really watering…do U remember where u bought the ring cake pan from? I've been on the hunt for a long time and can only find the bundt pans everywhere.. Btw, I'm not able to tag you(divinetaste page)the pics on Facebook.. U can check my profile for pizza and cake pics:) waiting to read bout ur recent fulfilling experience:))

  20. Lakshmi: You can send me the pictures for me to post on the facebook page. I bought this pan a long time ago and don't recall from where…sorry!Try homestop in shopper stop or lifestyle, if you are lucky you might find it. Thanks for your feedback.

  22. Thanks Anu!
    Great to see an all vegetarian site…
    I had a doubt. What butter is to be used for frosting?
    White unsalted? Or amul butter?
    Looking forward to baking this cake ASAP!

  23. Can you tell me what the temp I would cook this cake at fahrenheit my stove does not have celcius. Thank you,

  25. Hii Anu
    Lovely cake.
    Please tell where can I get pure vanilla extract nd
    Vanilla bean in pune. Coz here grocery shop hav
    Vanilla essence.
    Pls help me

  27. Hey Anu,

    Your site is marked favoritest on my list if there is something like that 🙂

    Can you tell me a gud brand of ice cream maker in India

    Bhavana

  29. Hello Anushruti,
    Is the vanilla bean to be taken whole? I usually scrape the pod contents with a knife and use. Is it ok if I use the whole bean? (With the pod and the contents inside)

  30. Vishaka- Yes, you can use the whole vanilla bean to grind the sugar. You need to sieve it after you grind and discard the large pieces of vanilla bean.

  31. Mam, can we bake the cake at 180 degrees ? Because I have baked all my cakes at 180 and they have turned out well so far

  33. Hi Anushruti,

    Just love your blog and you have a lovely name.
    I am planning to bake this cake for Rakhi. Please let me know if you have used salted or unsalted butter? Particularly for icing..did you use white unsalted butter?

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