cake! need to learn to make a cake

[Cappuccino]

I make great muffins but crap cakes. They are hard and flat.

My mother said she would make dd's birthday cake last week since I had a cold and didn't like making cakes.

Cake was not brilliant. It was kind, but not brilliant at all. Surely I can do better than that.

so I need a nice idiot's cake recipe please. Dh says that his mother used to have one and just add cocoa to make it chocolate for a change.

Please help me. My dd's deserve better than endless batches of muffins with candles precariously wobbling on top

buy a mix

add water and an egg

yeah
yeah?
YEAH?

oh ok!

i eat the cake when i've cooked it

wow!

am all up for a cakemaking extravaganza at the weekend

thanks all

will report back

what recipe do you used for muffin?? mine always just come out like "cake" and not muffins

NB home muffins are never like shop muffins, as those are always crammed full of preservatives, humectants etc to make them stay 'fresh' in the packet.
Homemade muffins are much more like cake - though baking them in a muffin pan not a fairy cake tin does help.

Mars just2 questions:

1 Can you half this recipe to make a smaller cake?

2 Can you use food processor?

I have never made a decent cake in my life and think the only way for me to manage id to use the procsessor.

mars isn't around, bur, I think the answer to both your questions is no. I've heard halving it doesn't work well, but it does freeze well. I can't remember exactly what mars said to me about food processing cakes but I'm certain it wasn't positive! It is really easy to make tho, jsut use a hand blender or a whisk and it's surprising how easily it all mixes up.

I love making cakes. What kind of tastes/flavours do you like eating then? Are you more into sponge cakes or chocolate or creamy cakes? I have a nice chocolate cake recipe I use a lot. It's easy, always works but it's very rich. I love carrot cake but you do have to grate all the carrots first. I also have a nice coconut layer sponge cake I make sometimes.

Why don't you get a nice bakery book and just try some things out? I like Mary Berry and her cakes seem to be basically just "throw everything in the mixer at once and beat together" so you can't go wrong with them.

bigknickers.... YES! to both.

the whisk makes it airier than the processor but it can be done in there.

Marslady - Made the famous cake today after wondering what all the fuss was about....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Made big bit in lasagne dish (as my roasting dish yukky) and then a little loaf tin bit as well. Needless to say the loaf tin bit has almost gone and I am wondering whether to freeze the rest or if we as a family can eat it!! DS1 birthday next week and I needed a huge cake to feed to 20 5 year olds and this will be perfect! Many thanks again!

thanks for the replies... I have an electric whisk so I shall try making the famous LD cake, but am interested in any other recipes SSSthechi. I love chocolate end of so am up for having a go at making a yummy choc cake.
Also wondered if you need to grease the dish/tin that you use to make the very famous Lemon drizzle cake?

Don't know about greasing/lining the tin for that cake because I've never made it but my bet is that you'll need to grease it.

I don't want to overwhelm you with different recipes. Come back and let us know when you've done the lemon drizzle and we'll keep throwing new recipes at you! It's a promise.

This is my chocolate:

175g soft butter
115g caster sugar
250g plain chocolate
200g ground almonds
4 medium eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 180oC/350oF. Grease a deep 21 cm /81/2 inch cake tin. Line the base with greaseproof paper and grease the paper.

Place 115g of the butter and all the sugar in the mixing bowl and beat till fluffy. Melt 166g (=ca 2/3)of the chocolate and add to the mixture, add almonds, egg yolks, beat till blended. We're talking use the electric mixer here!

Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until stiff. Fold into the chocolate mixture then transfer to the tin, smooth surface. Bake for 50-55 min or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave in tin for about 5 minutes to cool then turn onto a wire rack, peel off the paper, leave to cool completely.

Icing : place the remaining butter (60g) and the remaining chocolate (about 83g) in a small saucepan. Heat very gently, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until melted together. Pour over the cake, let it drizzle over the sides, leave to set for 1 hour.

It's yummy

thanks SSS, never realy know how to grease and line tins though. Do you just use butter and if so do you need to melt it first and then do you have to line the greaseproof paper. Sorry but I really am a novice at baking

birthday cake?

just make a big madeira cake

have you got a magimix or an electric cake whisk thing (with the hard beaters not like an egg whisk)

put 8 oz soft butter and 8 oz caster sugar in a bowl and cream together with a spoon then whisk for about 30 seconds, add 4 eggs .. 1 at a time and whisk for about 20 seconds after each one ... fold in 8oz SR flour (big metal spoon cut mixture in half and fold it over till all stirred in)

put it in greased cake tin and in a pre-heated oven for about an hour

easy and great for icing

greasing a tin

get knob of butter and smear around inside of tin

thanks twiglett, although I always thought madeira cake was the sort that are yellow and pink.

if you've got a magimix / food processor you can just bang it all in together and whisk for 2 mins

that's

8oz caster sugar
8oz butter
4 eggs
8 oz s/r flour

this goes up and down for bigger / smaller cakes by the way .. so could do 6 sugar, 6 butter, 3 egg, 6 flour

etc

madeira cake pic

I think you're thinking of battenberg cake

Thanks Twiglett, was thinking of battenburg cake

Is it good then medira cake

Its a nice, plain cake

you can also easily turn it into a fruit cake ie like apple cake

peel and slice cooking apples (about 4 or 5) .. mix with brown sugar (to taste .. needs a good coating) and mixed spice (again to taste but at least a couple of tbsps)

put half madeira mixture into cake tin .. put layer of apple, top with rest of cake mixture then put some apple pieces on the top (nice if you arrange them 'prettily')

then bake (180 for about 45 mins to an hour)

use a skewer to check (or can use spaghetti) .. push into centre of cake if it comes out clean (ie no cake mixture) its cooked

Great I will try some baking tomorrow as I bought half a dozen eggs today but I didnt realise there were still 5 eggs left in the fridge so I need to use them up