Basic Cake Mix Recipe

[hollie1586]

I need a recipe for a basic cake mixture. The tin is ten inches and quite deep. the cake needs to be big enough to feed 15-20 people. It's to be iced etc

[Barmaid]

Is it for a sponge or a fruit?

What type of icing?

[hollie1586]

Sponge and ready to roll icing

[vodkancoke]

12oz Self raising flour
12 ozCaster Sugar
12 oz butter, softened
6 eggs

Sift the flour, make a well, crack the eggs in. Add the sugar and the butter and whisk together until all the flour is mixed in. You can add some vanilla extract for some flavour if you want.
Bake at 170C for 40-45 mins until risen and springy to the touch.

[Barmaid]

Now Vodka, loathe as I am to comment when you are practically a pro - wouldn't a madeira type sponge be better able to cope with the fondant icing?

[vodkancoke]

Don't be daft, I aint no expert!

Madeira cakes tend to be for carving. The all-in-one sponge can withstand ready to roll icing. However, I have a madeira cake recipe here:

10 oz SR Flour
20 oz Plain Flour
24 oz Caster Sugar
24 oz Butter
12 large eggs
3-6 fl oz Milk
4 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

Cream the butter until smooth, add the caster sugar and beat to smooth and creamy. Add the eggs two at a time, with a few spoons of flour; finally add the vanilla extract and milk. Add the milk slowly, till you have a nice smooth consistency (not too dry not too loose). Pour the mixture into your cake tin, filling it to the top of the tin. Make sure your lining comes about 2" above the tin. Spoon a ‘well’ into the centre of the mixture in the tin. Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 2hr 30 mins, if the cake looks well risen and brown you can do the ‘skewer test’ - when your skewer comes out clean, your cake is ready. However if the skewer is not clean, but has cake mix on it, leave it to continue cooking, check again every 15 minutes.

[shoota]

Vod: I'm assuming that the 'Madeira' recipe is for a double cake as there seems to be a large weight of ingredients?
(Thinking of giving it a try.)
Also after a light fruitcake recipe if you have on please.

[vodkancoke]

Hey shoota, it makes a 10" squarecake which you can split in half and sandwich it together. It does make a big, deep cake. A madeira cake is quite a heavy cake which is why it is mainly used for cakes that have to be carved into some kind of shape.

For a light fruit cake, Delia never fails. Her Christmas cake is fabulous (I leave out the black treacle, glace cherries and mixed peel-yuck!) and she has a light fruit cake with glace fruits which I leave out too!

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/light-glace-fruit-cake.html

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/the-classic-christmas-cake.html

[shoota]

Thanks Vodka x

[vodkancoke]

No bother at all x