Recipe - Beat and Bake Cake

The last time life was this hectic, was in the early years of motherhood, where perils of having kids a year apart, dominated all sphere's of my life (Life? What life? I had none!). The only difference between then and now is that I now know the importance of not losing one's identity to fulfil a single role. To make time to pursue my own passions and make sure I maintain a balance between it all...

 

Sometimes life interferes with the image I have in my head. An image of domestic goddess bliss, where my kitchen counters are loaded with Nigella-like treats for my family and my household is run in a way that will make Martha Stewart proud! And all this is done in 60's like fashion; puffed out skirt, red lips, perfectly curled hair and heels! Plus, I somehow maintain my sanity through it all! Aaah! But  real life can be quite a dream murderer!

 

While I'm thankful that we have evolved since the 60's, I do still like to treat my family every now and again; and even with our hectic lifestyle and time constraints, it's good to know that a delicious recipe is just a Beat & Bake away ;-) Here's my flop proof recipe for a Beat & Bake cake that can easily be transformed into any flavour you like. Making time management that much easier for us all!

 

 

INGREDIENTS

• 150gr Butter/margarine melted

• 260gr Flour

• 250gr Castor Sugar

• 15ml baking powder

• pinch of salt

• 3 large eggs

• 100 ml milk

• 50 ml water

• 5 ml vanilla essence 

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and bottom line two 20cm sandwich tins or a ring mould like I used.
2. Place butter/margarine in a bowl. Sift dry ingredients onto butter.
3. Add eggs, milk, water and essence. Beat for about 2 minutes with an electric beater until mixture is smooth.
4. Spoon into sandwich tins. Bake or 25-30 minutes (allow a few minutes extra for the ring mould) until skewer comes out clean.
5. Ice and decorate as desired.

BEAT & BAKE VARIATIONS

Coffee Cake : Replace vanilla essence with 15ml instant coffee dissolved in 15ml hot water. Also add 25ml instant coffee dissolved in 15ml hot water to your basic icing mixture.

Chocolate Cake : Add 3 Tablespoons cocoa and an extra 50ml of water or milk to basic mixture.

Orange Cake : Omit vanilla essence. Replace 50ml of water with 50ml of orange juice. Add grated rind of one orange (I use far less...about 1 Tblsp) to the cake mixture. Add 20 ml orange juice to your basic icing mixture to top the cake.

 

 

 Happy Baking!

 

Peace,

 

NAMU :)