This is a question worth answering if you are interested in baking and in writing your own recipes. Starting with the hottest temperature the answer is surprisingly simple.
Melted butter is added to a cake recipe when you are going for a denser or less light cake. What this will produce is a cake or other pastry that is very moist but does not rise when baked. That is why you find melted butter in the Tres Leches Cake Recipe at the bottom.
Room temperature butter is used when baking a cake that should rise. The reason for this is that the sugar crystals literally embed themselves into the butter when whipped together and this creates air bubbles that assist the leavening process.
Cold butter is ideal for things like pastry shells or crusts. The reason for this is that when cold butter is mixed into flour it does not form a homogeneous mixture as lumps of butter are left throughout the mixture. Due to the high water content in butter when heat hits a lump of butter in the pastry flour it creates steam, which assists in producing a light and flaky crust. Try putting your butter in the freezer for 30 minutes before using it for best results.
Now try this delectable Tres Leches Cake Recipe and see the difference for yourself.
Tres Leches Cake
Milks
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 cup half and half
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Cake
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup 2% organic milk
1 stick butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large Room Temp eggs
2 cups sugar
Frosting
1 cup heavy cream
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Grease and flour a 9x13 glass baking dish. Heat oven to 325.
Cook the condensed milk in a medium saucepan on the stove for about 5 minutes or until slightly changing color. Add other milks and vanilla extract off the heat. Let the mixture sit ready while you prepare the cake
Combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and allow mixing at medium high speed until it is a pale yellow color and forms thick ribbons that fall back on themselves. This should take 8 minutes. While the mixer is going melt the butter and 2% milk in a small saucepan over med low heat. Slowly (so you don’t scramble the eggs) add the melted butter mixture to the sugar mixture with the mixer on the lowest speed. Immediately turn the mixer speed back up to medium high. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a medium-mixing bowl. Add ½ of the flour mixture until it is incorporated and then add the other ½. Mix until completely incorporated scraping the sides of the bowl down as needed.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake 40-45 min until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and poke many holes in it. Pour the cooled milk mixture onto the hot cake slowly. Allow the cake to cool to almost room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
When ready to serve beat the heavy cream and the sugar until stiff peaks form (do not over beat since this is how butter is made). Add the vanilla extract and allow to just combine. Top the cake with the homemade whipped cream. Serve with coffee.
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