I need to bake a cake.
And although I can cook a 7 course meal from almost any part of the world (read no french cooking here): I can’t bake for the life of me. But I need to bake this time around.
And its needs to look and taste good.
Two options; Lemon cake with a rasberry preserve filling. What kind of frosting? I’m thinking a creamcheese with a little tang tart type of taste.
Lemon cookie sandwiches with a berry filling. Coated with powder sugar and milk frosting
So you guys tell me:
which sounds more appetizing
which takes less expertise
please for the love of all that is good and natural post a recipe.
I also need a good tested recipe for a vanilla cake. I was also very scared with baking, so for 2 years I have been using betty crocker vanilla base for all my cakes. I have perfected baking with betty crocker, now I want to try baking a cake from scratch.
Try this basic recipe.. you can add your own flavours:
Weigh your eggs ( i do about 4)
Whatever the weight of the eggs, that's how much butter, caster sugar, self raising flour you need
1/2 that weight is plain flour, tsp of vanilla essence, pinch of salt.
Cream the butter and sugar until it's white and fluffy in a mixer
Add one egg at a time, with 1 spoon of flour to stop it from curdling
When all of the eggs are added, fold the rest of the flour in and the vanilla essence. Don't use a machine for this part, as you don't want to lose the air.
Now you add your flavours.. if you wanted a lemon cake, add some juice and lemon zest
I think a lemon cake would go nice with a cream cheese frosting.. almost like lemon cheesecake yum!
I feel that cookies are a hassle to make since you need to do it in batches and keep an eye on them they can burn quickly, and cookies with filling and frosting means hassle x 3 for me! Maybe its just a personal preference but I prefer cake.
I haven’t tried this recipe personally but Ina Garten recipes are usually no-fail, the ones I’ve tried are always good. Plus the detailed instructions on the blog make it hard to mess it up. I hope you like it. For the frosting you can use a cream cheese frosting with lemon curd folded into it if you dont want to do the buttercream. Or maybe even lemon whipped cream for a lighter frosting. Strawberry Chic: Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling
These two are tried and tested recipes that come out amazing every time!
Chocolate Cake:
1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder (Hershey’s is the best)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong black coffee cooled
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix dry ingredients and then mix the wet ingredients separately. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
what did you make?? was it from scratch or box version?
this is my go to recipe for cake or cupcakes. this is from martha swift and lisa thomas from primrose bakery, it works like a charm for me every single time, and quite forgiving too. You need to practice few times before the actual occasion when you need to make the cake. My rule of thumb is to never try anything new that you know may or may not turn out good on top of the stress of a dawat etc. good luck
INGREDIENTS
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g (8oz) caster sugar, preferably golden
2 large eggs, free-range or organic
150g (5½oz) self-raising flour, sifted
125g (4½oz) plain flour, sifted
120ml (4fl oz) semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature
1tsp good-quality vanilla extract
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (fan)/gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tray or 3 x 12-hole mini muffin trays with cupcake cases.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the two flours. Put the milk into a jug and add the vanilla extract. Add one third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes (regular size) or 15 minutes (mini size) until slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes - it should come out clean.
