Baking/Cooking

MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 2011

My 19th

Sooo, turned 19 on the 27th! Woke up to a massive knock on my uni house door, only to scramble out of bed half naked to answer to a man holding a package containing something of which had been sent by a pig from the moon. Inside contents: 1 Card from la Besty, and one mug of which you will see if you look to the right of this page! She knows me too well! Also, even at 19, a caterpillar cake still puts a smile on my face! Of course, nothing quite beats the quality of a homemade cake - especially the classic chocolate Victoria sponge cake ^_^. 


Okay, so in case you're a real novice and have no clue how to make one of the most simplest, yet tasty cakes in existence, I shall give you my recipe and tips of how I personally choose to make it.

Ingredients

• 6oz caster sugar
• 6oz margarine (Stalk is always a good choice)
• 2 large eggs/3 medium eggs
• 4oz self-raising flour (or 5oz if you prefer your cake less chocolatey)
• 2oz cocoa powder (or 1oz if you chose to use 5oz of flour (weirdo ;))
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract (optional)

Utensils

• A large mixing bowl
• A bowl for measuring out the dry ingredients (as you will be sifting these into the large mixing bowl)
• An Electric whisk (or wooden spoon which I used to use before my wonderful whisk, which has unfortunately given me bigger arms than Arnold Schwarzenegger -.-)
• 1 Large metal spoon for folding in the flour
• 1 tsp
• Butter knife
• Sieve
• Weighing scales (electronic scales are easier)
• 7-9 inch cake tin (depending on how deep you want your cake), greased and lined
• Paper towels and surface cleaner for cleaning up your mess!

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/170C fan oven (170c tends to give more of an evenly topped cake from experience, but depends on your oven)
2. Weigh out the sugar in a bowl then sift into the large mixing bowl
3. Use the lid of the margarine to weigh it with, (as this saves washing up!), and add to the large mixing bowl
4. Use the whisk to cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture turns pale and a thick, smooth texture is achieved
5. Weigh out the dry ingredients in a bowl, (can use the same one as the sugar as it will still be clean due to no marg!)
6. Add one egg to the creamed mixture, then sift a third of the dry ingredients in with it
7. Using the metal spoon, fold in the flour and egg until well blended in, then repeat step 6 with the remaining eggs, (if using 2 large eggs, fold in the rest of the flour after the eggs have been mixed in).
8. Fold in the vanilla extract at this point if choosing to use it
9. Add the mixture into the cake tin and put in the centre of the oven for 45mins- an hour. The timing varies with tin sizes, so keep and eye on your cake! To test if it is cooked through, simply insert a skewer into the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is cooked. WARNING! Try not to get paranoid that you till overcook your cake and keep opening the oven to check! The cake will sink and a mountain on butter-cream as a cake topping will be your only saviour!

Once the cake is cooked, leave in the tin for 5 mins to cool slightly, then tip out onto a wire cooling rack to cool.


As an alternative, (or generally what I tend to do), is to use the mixture to make buns instead! I have many-a-time been complemented on my buns and how tasty they are! The key thing is as corny as this - the amount of love and care you put into them makes for how beautiful they will taste! I always prefer to use a whisk and then fold in the flour and sugar rather than an all-in-one method, as this is the best way to incorporate air into the cake and make sure you little baby rises!


Problems that may occur..


Okay, so we aren't all Mrs Beeton or Delia Smith, and things can go wrong from time to time! Just don't panic and try follow some simple rules to help stop your cake from being a flop.

1. Don't over-work your cake, as this will create a dense, hard texture that can be dry and not so pleasant to eat
2. Make sure your oven is hot enough so that your cake rises
3. Don't use too much baking powder as this could end in a cake with a risen and cracked middle that isn't so visually appealing. However if this does occur, simply cut off the top to neaten it up and decorate with icing or melted chocolate
4. If you slightly under-cook your cake it can still be edible! Happened to me when I was providing cake to make cake pops for my Besty's 18th. I took it out too early in eagerness, the cake sank and was so moist it stuck to the cake tub! With it only being for cake pops, we crumbled down the cake into bits, and to be honest, it worked out better! With more of a brownie consistency, it made the cake pops richer and more mouthwatering. So basically if this occurs, use the cake to make something else and tell friends and family that's what you planned to do all along!

If I have missed any problems, just message me and I will get back to you on how you could maybe fix it :).


The main thing now is to pop the kettle on and make yourself a cuppa to prevent yourself from devouring the cake too early!