Singapore Butter Cake

Nov 7, 2026 · By VanillaGoods

Baking Cakes cupcakes Vanilla: Extract Medium

Singapore butter cake is a rich, fine-crumbed cake made with plenty of salted butter, lightened with whipped egg whites and baked low and slow for a deep brown crust. It sits between a pound cake and a sponge: buttery but soft and moist. Makes 16 servings in about 2 hr 35 min.

Prep 25 min

Cook 60 min

Cooling 1 hr 10 min

Total 2 hr 35 min

Servings 16

Ingredients

Adjust yield

servings

1 cup (250 g)salted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup (200 g)sugar, divided: 130 g and 70 g
5 (250 g)eggs, large, separated while cold
1 tsp (5 ml)vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups (200 g)cake flour
1 ¼ tsp (5 g)baking powder, 1 1/4 tsp
¼ cup (60 ml)evaporated milk, room temperature

Baking tools for this recipe

Convert to grams Scale it Change the pan

Instructions

Cut the salted butter into slices and let it soften at room temperature until a finger presses in easily, about 1 hour. Separate the eggs while cold, keeping the whites in a clean, grease-free bowl.
Line the square cake pan with parchment and heat the oven to 325°F (160°C) with a rack in the lower third.
Beat the softened salted butter with 130 g of the sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 5 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla extract.
Sift the cake flour with the baking powder. On low speed, add half the flour, then the evaporated milk, then the rest of the flour, mixing just until smooth.
In the clean bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy, then add the remaining 70 g sugar a spoonful at a time and whip to firm, glossy peaks, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir a third of the whites into the butter mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest in two additions until no white streaks remain.
Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake until deep golden brown, the top springs back and a skewer in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out and cool completely on a rack, about 1 hour, before cutting into 16 squares.

Tips

Salted butter is traditional and gives the cake its savory-rich edge; if you use unsalted, add 1/4 tsp (1.5 g) fine salt with the flour.
A low oven gives the characteristic brown crust without drying the inside.
The crumb becomes even moister if the cake is wrapped and rested overnight.
Good with kopi (Singapore-style coffee) or teh tarik.

Made this?

Log it to keep your bakes, ratings and notes together in My Kitchen.

Be the first to share one.

Recipe FAQ

How long does it take to make singapore butter cake?

Plan on 25 minutes of prep and 1 hour of cooking, plus 1 hour 10 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 16 servings.

How should I store singapore butter cake?

Keep wrapped at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze up to 1 month.

Can I make singapore butter cake ahead?

It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.

Can I use a different form of vanilla?

Yes. This recipe uses 1 tsp vanilla extract (5 ml). Each teaspoon of pure vanilla extract can be swapped for 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, the seeds of half a vanilla bean, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder. Paste and seeds add the classic dark specks.

Butter cake is one of the oldest items in Singapore's old-school bakeries, many of them founded by Hainanese bakers, and is made with salted butter, separated eggs and a deep golden crust. Serve it with kopi (Singapore-style coffee) or teh tarik.

Variations

Pandan butter cake: replace the evaporated milk with 60 ml (1/4 cup) pandan juice made by blending 8 pandan leaves with 80 ml water and straining. Bake time unchanged.
Marble butter cake: mix 10 g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder with 15 ml (1 tbsp) hot water into a third of the batter and swirl it through the plain batter in the pan; bake 55 minutes.
Walnut butter cake: fold 80 g (3/4 cup) chopped walnuts into the batter with the last of the egg whites; bake 55 to 60 minutes.

Estimated · per serving

Nutrition

Per serving = 1 of 16 servings this recipe makes.

236 Calories / serving

16.3g Fat

20.2g Carbs

2.9g Protein

17.4g Sugar

Whole recipe (16 servings): ~3776 cal · 261g fat · 323g carbs · 46g protein · 278g sugar

Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.