Easy Mix Butter Cake

Easy-Mix Butter Cake
Favorite Cakes
Card 14


Hi!

When I was a wee gal, I used to come home from school to THIS VERY cake.  I loved it. Sometimes my Nan used to sprinkle jelly crystals on the top, you know, the powdered jelly? Yes, that.  Always Raspberry or Strawberry flavoured. Golly. I just remembered that as I typed this.  I am going to make this again with Jelly Crystals on top of it. Wow.  But it is really great with 100s and 1000s or sprinkles too.

This cake was EASY to make.  It was lovely and light.  I used the Kitchen Aid.  And I did burn the edges a teensy bit, but that is because my oven only has HOT or NOT kind of temperatures.  So it was a teensy bit HOT!  Oops. The dog got the ends and she was VERY happy!

I love this cake as much as I love my Nan. I think it is a simple cake with a lovely crumb and a golden crust.  I say go forth and make this.  You will like it. Yes you will.  It is lovely and light and humble. Just my kind of cake.

xx Pip

Family Chocolate Cake

Favorite Cakes
Card 22
Family Chocolate Cake

OKAY!  So this is a recipe that lots of people mentioned when I first announced this project.  I made it today (early this morning, in fact) with the Caramel Icing (as above.)  I think it would be extra nice with Chocolate Icing as well.  Max thought this cake was quite nice.  He said he would prefer it if this cake was rich and chewy and chocolaty like a brownie.  It isn't those things, but it is a nice light tea cake.  Not very chocolaty though.  You could add lots more cocoa, I think, and chocolate icing, and that would placate the Chocolaty People.  Ari did not really like the icing.  But Max did. So go figure.  Maybe chocolate icing is the safest option here?!

Personally, I think it is really nice as is. Cam liked it too, and he thought it was nice and moist.  He said he hates dry cakes.  This cake is  not dry. Phew.  It is lovely and moist with delicious caramel icing.  That is what it is. Yum.

Points to note ::
The caramel icing took a bit more icing sugar than mentioned to make the icing thick enough, so watch out for that and have a bit extra on hand, perhaps.  You will note that I made this in a heart shape.  That is because I did not have a big square tin, and also because I like hearts.  I lined it well with baking paper and greased it super goodly.   You could make a heart cake too, if you wanted to.  I think it is nice to defy convention and use fancy tins.  Perhaps you have a tin in the shape of a bowler hat, or a monkey, or a bottle of whiskey.  Those would all be great options too.  Or just make a square and ignore my silly tin fetish.

Is this cake part of your culinary history?! Did someone in your family make this cake for you?  We would LOVE to know more.  Tell us!

xx Pip

Orange Cake

click to enlarge

Favorite Cakes
Card 13
Orange Cake

Ooh it has been a while since I posted a Yellow Box recipe... That has more to do with the fact that I haven't taken photos of the recipe cards, rather than the fact that we haven't been Yellow Box-ing. Because we HAVE been Yellow Box-ing!

So here we have the Orange Cake!  This cake was quite yummy.  Either I cooked it for too long... or it was badly in need of a syrup... perhaps the first, because it was a bit dry.  I hate a cake that is not quite cooked, so I think maybe I did err on the side of caution and cook this a bit long... (be careful not to do that, if you make this cake.)

This cake is a real old fashioned tea cake. It will keep for an age, I reckon.  Maybe a week or more.  I decided to fancy up the icing a bit, and added some Mandarin Zest, which gave it a nice lift.  This glace icing is the sort that sets, so you can wrap it in cling film and the plastic won't stick to the top. I think that makes it a good cake to take to a friend's house, which I did.  (The friend thought this cake was nice.)

While I was icing this, Ari told me too much icing is a bad thing, so I did not completely smother it as I usually do.  He was quite mortified that I slowly tipped the icing on and let it flow volcano style.  He thought I should spread the icing carefully. Hmm.

So what do you think?  Too much icing a bad thing? Tip or spread?  Is this a cake your Nan used to make?

xx Pip

NB :: More on Project Yellow Box here....

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Simplicity Chocolate Cake - via NMAA

I made this today. It turned out great. I used a bit more butter and dutch cocoa and a tablespoon of espresso instead of instant.


2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cocoa
1 cup SR flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp instant coffee

Grease a ring tin very well and heat oven to 350F

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add cocoa, vanilla and coffee. Add flour and milk alternately. Bake for 30 mins. Cool in tin and then turn out.

Upside Down Pear Cake

3 pears, peeled, halved and cored
175g butter
175g caster sugar
175g self raising flour
3 eggs
3 tablespoons of milk

grease and line your 20cm cake tin with baking paper. preheat oven to 180C.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in flour, then milk.

Place pears into bottom of the lined tin. Spoon mixture evenly over top of pears and smooth out.

Bake for 45minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes and then turn out onto serving plate.

Y to the UM.

via Eat Drink Live by Fran Warde

NMAA Banana Loaf :: from NMAA Cooks

125g butter
2/3 cup raw sugar
1 egg
1 cup wholemeal plain flour plus
1/2 cup wholemeal self raising flour mixed with a pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup yoghurt or 1/4 cup milk mixed with some lemon juice (to make buttermilk!)

Grease a loaf tin and heat your oven to 375f

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Now mix the mashed banana, vanilla and yoghurt/buttermilk together. Add this mix and the flour alternately to the creamed butter until all is mixed in. Pour into a greased tin and bake for 40 - 50 minutes! Cool for ten minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

I sprinkled the top with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar before I baked it - for a bit of a spicey crunchy top!

Nanna-rific Raspberry Jelly Cake

via

from 1977 Royal Flying Doctor Women's Auxiliary Historical Cookbook


two and a half cups self raising flour
one tablespoon custard powder
four dessertspoons of raspberry jelly crystals
three tablespoons of boiling water
four ounces of butter
six ounces of sugar
three eggs
two tablespoons of milk


Sift the flour and the custard powder. Dissolve the jelly in boiling water. Cream the butter and sugar until pale, add the eggs and beat well. Add the milk to the jelly (it will curdle). Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the jelly/milk. Place into a greased 7" cake tin. Bake in a moderate oven for 50 minutes. Ice with soft icing and sprinkle with jelly crystals.

Never Fail Chocolate Cake

Okay.. this cake is missing two pieces.. but that's because they've scooted into the lunchboxes of two hungry boys. I got up early to face the week and make soup and cake for the boys and cake for Brown Owls too. Lots of early making makes me happy, I can tell you! I'll show you the cherry cake a bit later on (it's still in the oven.)

Never Fail Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
pinch salt
1 cup of milk
dash of vanilla essence
2 cups of SR Flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating constantly. Add salt and vanilla. Mix cocoa and milk together in a jug. Add this cocoa/milk mix alternately with spoonfuls of the flour until nicely combined. Bake in a moderate oven in a 7"pan for 40 mins or until done!

*adapted from 'Royal Flying Doctor Women's Auxiliary Cookbook'

Cherry Cake

Cherry Cake

2 cups of flour
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
100 g butter
1 cup of sugar PLUS 1 extra tablespoon of sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup of frozen or fresh pitted cherries
rind of a lemon


Cream the butter and the sugar until pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the lemon rind, salt and the vanilla. Beat in the sifted together flour and baking powder, and the milk alternately until just combined. Pour into a well greased 7" tin and dot with the cherries, then sprinkle with the extra sugar. Bake for 40 minutes in a medium/moderate oven - or until a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Enjoy! Yum!

* adapted from this recipe

I think I cooked this one a bit long... it was a tiny bit gooey in the centre after 40mins... but I'll just be sure to douse it with lots of cream and I think it'll be fine.... perhaps I might even warm it to serve?!

Pip's Brownies

via

200g dark cooking chocolate
200g butter
200g caster sugar
3 large free range eggs
150g plain flour
100g cocoa
1tsp vanilla


Melt the cooking chocolate with the butter very gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Meanwhile beat the sugar and eggs in a mixer until light and fluffy, add vanilla.
Next mix in the chocolate/butter melted mix.
Now fold in the flour and cocoa.
Pour into a very well greased tin - i use a pastry brush to paint melted butter on every mm of the tin! And I do that twice!
Bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour until the centre is ALMOST cooked (a skewer in the centre should come out a bit chocolaty, but the sides should be pulling away from the tin and the top should be shiny and cracked). YUM!

Stephanie's (and Elizabeth David's) Chocolate Cake

I double this recipe and use a bigger tin!

125g good cooking chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp brandy
1 tbs black coffee
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
3 eggs, separated
icing sugar to dust


Preheat the oven to 160 C. Butter and line an 18cm baking tin - springform is best.

Combine the chocolate, brandy and coffee in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir when melted and add the butter and sugar. Mix very well. Add the ground almonds and mix well. Lightly beat the egg yolks, take the bowl off the heat, and mix in. Beat the egg whites with a mixer until stiff. Fold one tablespoon of the whites into the chocolate mix to loosen it up. Then gently fold in the remaining whites. Goop into the tin and bake for 40 minutes or so. It will be crusty on the top, but fudgy in the middle. Cool completely and serve dusted with icing sugar.

Pop Them In Plum Cake

I really DO love a cake with fresh stone fruit dotted about it! You can make this with plums - or other things too. Apricots, nectarines, apple segments.... yum.


125g butter
125g caster sugar
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
zest of one lemon
700g plums, halved and pitted
4 eggs
cinnamon
1/3 cup of milk
extra tablespoon of sugar
icing sugar


Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Butter and line a 22cm springform tin.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the lemon zest. Beat in the eggs one at a time until fluffy and light and creamy and nice. Carefully fold in the flour and baking powder. Next mix in the milk, gently. Pour into the prepared tin. Pop in the plums and regular intervals. Sprinkle with cinnamon and extra sugar. Bake for 45 minutes. Dust with icing sugar when cooked and serve with icecream or thick cream thank you very much.

LoobyLu's Mum's Chocolate Cake

via Loobylu and her Mum

Melt 85 grams (3 ounces) of butter.
Put in bowl (in order of appearance) with:
1 cup of sifted self raising flour,
1 cup of caster sugar,
2 Tablespoons of cocoa (sifted) — not drinking chocolate, but real cocoa
2 cold eggs
dollop vanilla
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of whole cream milk



combine & beat 3 minutes.
Cook for 45 minutes on 180°c.
Cool and ice with chocolate glace icing.
Eat. With ice-cream.

Dorothy's Scones

This recipe comes courtesy of the CWA documentary 'Not All Tea and Scones'.

500g flour
60g butter
60g icing sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
30g cream of tartar
15g bicarb soda
1 egg

Rub butter into sifted dry ingredients using spirit fingers. Add milk and egg all at once. Knead gently and lovingly like a CWA chick. Gently pat down to 3cm or so thickness. Rest dough for 5 minutes. Cut into rounds and bake in a hot oven on a greased tray for 15 minutes until risen.

Lemon Squares - Not For Sour Pusses

Did you know... that this is really a lovely slice. A simple cake topped with a fresh lemony sugary syrup. It's really lemon soaked loveliness... in a square!

Make Le Cake...
175g butter
175g caster sugar
175 g self raising flour
2 eggs

Make Le Topping...
juice of two lemons
120g caster sugar

Cream the butter and the sugar. Beat in the eggs. Fold in the flour. Bake in a greased, square pan measuring 25 X 17 cms. The oven should be at 180 degrees. Bake for about 40 minutes or until cooked.

Meanwhile, mix together the lemon juice and the sugar. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour it over the hot cake. Leave to cool and then cut into squares and serve.

Make some tea.

Play scrabble.

Have fun.

Yellow Tea Bowls from here

Nigella Lawson's Cupcake Recipe

put zem on zis....

250g softened unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
3 large eggs
250g self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 200 (or 400)

Throw all ingredients into a food processor. Mix until combined. Spoon into cupcake case lined muffin tin - fill them 2/3 full. Cook for about 15 minutes until well risen and golden and springy on the top. Ice with your favourite icing*. Decorate. Share. Gobble them down!

Cake stand with birdys from here

Coconut Tarts with Raspberry Jam a la Mike....

My nan used to make these.. this is not her recipe.. but it is nearly as nice!

For the pastry
50g butter
100g plain flour
pinch of salt
one tsp caster sugar
one egg yolk and cold water to mix

For the filling
raspberry jam
50g butter
50 g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
50 g dessicated coconut
3 tbsp self raising flour

Preheat oven to 190 degrees (or 375 degrees farenheit) This recipe makes one dozen.

• For the pastry - rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs; stir in the sugar.
• Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg yolk and enough cold water to make a firm dough. Turn onto a floured board and roll out thinly.
• Cut into rounds large enough to fill a shallow patty pan tin. (We used a glass to to this.. like nan used to).
• Line each patty pan hollow, and then put a little bit of jam in each one.

Now make the filling:

• Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
• Add the egg a little at a time. Then fold in the coconut and the flour.
• Place spoonfuls of this mixture on top of the jammy lined patty pans.
• It will spread out as you cook it.. so don't be too precise...

Bake for 15 to 20 mins until golden and firm. Cool and eat!

Gorgeous cake stand from here

Tea with Delia? Delia Smith's Crumpet Recipe

You really need to take your time cooking these. Otherwise they will be doughy and yuk. And doughy crumpets are for slappers, right? I make the batter and whack it in the fridge for delicious sourdough crumpets the next morning. I'm a bit clever, sometimes. You could get these started early in the day and have them for afternoon tea. That would be clever too. This recipe makes 12.

8 oz (225 g) strong plain flour
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level tablespoon dried yeast
1 level teaspoon caster sugar
½ pint (275 ml) milk

You will also need a thick-based frying pan, some egg rings and a little lard.

Heat the milk and 2 fl oz (55 ml) water together in a small saucepan until they are 'hand hot'. Then pour into a jug, stir in the sugar and dried yeast and leave it in a warm place for 10-15 minutes till there is a good frothy head on itMeanwhile, sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre then, when the yeast mixture is frothy, pour it all in.

Next use a wooden spoon to work the flour into the liquid gradually and beat well at the end to make a perfectly smooth batter. Cover the basin with a tea-towel and leave to stand in a warm place for about 45 minutes - by which time, the batter will have become light and frothy.To cook the crumpets: grease the insides of the egg rings well, and grease the frying pan as well before placing it over a medium heat.

Arrange the rings in the frying pan and, when the pan is hot, spoon 1 tablespoon of the crumpet batter into each ring. Let them cook for 4 or 5 minutes: first tiny bubbles will appear on the surface and then, suddenly, they will burst, leaving the traditional holes. Now take a large spoon and fork, lift off the rings and turn the crumpets over.

Cook the crumpets on the second side for about 1 minute only. Re-grease and reheat the rings and pan before cooking the next batch of crumpets. Serve the crumpets while still warm, generously buttered. If you are making crumpets in advance, then reheat them by toasting lightly on both sides before serving.

Slapper Tea-Cup and Plate from here