Posted by So this is cake day as mentioned earlier in one of my egg posts. Wikipedia says Cakes are “typically” made of butter, EGGS, flour, oil, sugar etc etc. Then you have the additions to them – fruits, zests, nuts, chocolate what not. Makes me wonder if there’s a savory cake too. But you see these are all additions to the “Typical” ingredients. Ha! You know what I am driving at, yes? There are numerous egg-less “cakes” and I will rest my case they are not cakes. They should come up with another name to that. Nakes maybe? I just tried saying that loud 😀 . LOL! I cant keep my thoughts to myself, I HAVE to tell them out. Honest. Like BRUTALLY honest. Is that a good thing? I dont know. No hard feeling there! Now thats a topic for discussion some other day maybe? Wont you join in?
So who here hasn’t baked yet? No bakes , no cakes? This post is an humble attempt to explain the basics of baking starting with the butter cake. Get your ingredients ready, your pans and whisks and lets get going
Recipe
Serves : 8
Prep time : 15 mins
Baking time : 40-45 mins
Butter : 150 gm
Sugar : 150 gm (Powdered if not using Caster sugar)
Vanilla extract : 1.5 tsp
Eggs : 3
All Purpose Flour (Maida) : 125 gm
Cornflour : 15 gm (3 tsp )
Baking powder : 1 tsp/5 g
Salt : a fat pinch (skip this if you are adding salted butter)
** IF theres no hand mixer, cake mixer, please use those strong muscles and whisk away using a clean (no other flavours) wooden spatula or a basic whisk**
- Preheat the oven to 175 C. Preheating is turning on the oven beforehand for a good 12-15 mins so that it reaches the desired temperature
- Grease the cake pan with a tsp butter. Then sprinkle flour and tap the pan so that the flour sticks to the butter. Make sure the entire pan is greased and dusted
- Sieve the flour, cornflour and baking powder.Keep aside
- If using a stand mixer, add the measured butter and sugar to the pan. I used the whisk attachment for this recipe.
- Whisk at low speed then increase it gradually. Scrape the bowl sides so that there is no butter sticking to the sides
- Beat till it becomes light and fluffy resembling pale yellow
- Now break the eggs into bowl. TIP : Tap the egg on a flat surface to avoid crushed shells into the batter.
- Add one egg at a time giving a gap of about 2 minutes between each addition.
- After the 3rd egg addition the mixture may look curdled. Thats OK.
- Once all the eggs are incorporated well into the batter. STOP the mixer
- Take the bowl in your hand and take a wooden/rubber spatula
- Add the flour, 1 spoon at a time. DO NOT beat vigorously. Gently fold it in to the batter.
- Once all the flour is used up, pour into pan. Tap lightly so there are no air bubbles.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for about 40 mins.
- Prick with a toothpick to see if the centre of the cake is cooked well. The cake tester/tooth prick should come clean.
- Another good sign is the cake should pull away from the sides
- Remove from oven, allow to cool for about 7 mins
- Turn it on a newspaper, cake platter, tap gently.The cake should release well from the pan
- {CUT. SERVE. EAT.} With LOVE
Beginners Tips
0. READ THE RECIPE VERY CAREFULLY. – This is the most important of all the below points so takes the “0” position 🙂
1. Good quality butter and eggs are important in getting the desired results
2. All ingredients MUST be at room temperature
3. Ensure you have all your ingredients in one place before you start mixing – MISE EN PLACE
4. Do NOT open the oven door in the first 25 minutes. The air outside may affect baking temperatures needed for the rise
5. Beating the butter and sugar is very important at the beginning
6. Fold the flour into the butter, sugar, egg mixture
7. Powder the sugar for better results if not using caster/confectioners sugar
8. Use good quality baking powder. An year old baking powder will NOT work as it should.
Please feel free to leave comments/questions/feedback I will try to get back as soon as I can
The Steamy Pot 