Okay, so I’ve been thinking about that butter cake from California Pizza Kitchen for ages. You know the one, right? Super moist, that crispy sugar edge, with ice cream melting all over it. I finally decided, enough dreaming, let’s try making it myself at home.
Getting Started
First thing, I had to hunt down a recipe that looked legit. Found one online that seemed pretty straightforward. Then, off to the kitchen cupboards to see what I actually had. Needed the basics:
- Flour, the regular all-purpose kind.
- Lots of butter. I mean, it’s called a butter cake for a reason, right? This isn’t one of those oil cakes. Had to make sure I had enough unsalted butter, softened up.
- Sugar, both regular white and some powdered for dusting later maybe?
- Eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt… the usual cake gang.
- Also needed some cream cheese, which seemed interesting for a cake batter.
Got everything out on the counter. Always makes me feel like I actually know what I’m doing when it’s all lined up.
Mixing it Up
Alright, the mixing part. Creamed the butter and cream cheese together first. Took a while to get it really smooth with my hand mixer. Then beat in the sugar until it was light and fluffy looking. Added the eggs one by one, then the vanilla. Smelled pretty good already.
In another bowl, I whisked the flour, baking powder, and salt together. The recipe said to add this dry stuff bit by bit to the wet stuff, alternating with… wait, I forgot milk! Grabbed the milk. Okay, dry stuff, then milk, dry stuff, then milk, until it was all combined. Didn’t want to overmix it, heard that makes cakes tough.
The batter looked thick, really rich. Definitely different from a box mix, you could just tell.
Baking Time
Got my round cake pan ready. Greased it up real good with butter and floured it. Poured the batter in, smoothing the top. The recipe I looked at mentioned high heat, kinda like how CPK probably does their pizzas fast. So I cranked the oven up. Maybe not 450 like for their take-and-bake pizzas, but pretty hot for a cake, around 350F I think it was.
Slid it into the preheated oven. Now the waiting game. The house started smelling amazing, like buttery vanilla heaven. Peeked through the oven door a few times, probably shouldn’t have, but couldn’t resist. Looked like it was getting golden around the edges.
The Moment of Truth
Pulled it out when the toothpick came out clean. Let it cool in the pan for a bit, then flipped it onto a wire rack. It looked… pretty good! Nice golden top. The edges looked a little crisp.
Couldn’t wait for it to cool completely. While it was still warm, I cut a slice. Okay, maybe a wedge. Added a big scoop of vanilla ice cream right on top. Dusted with powdered sugar because why not?
And the taste? Honestly, pretty darn close! It was super buttery, dense but soft, and that slightly crisp edge was there. The warm cake with the cold ice cream melting into it… yeah, that hit the spot. It wasn’t exactly like CPK’s, maybe theirs is richer or uses some secret trick, but for a home attempt? I was pretty happy.
Definitely messy with the ice cream, but totally worth it. I’ll be making this again when the craving hits. It’s dangerous knowing I can do this at home now.
