Beginners Guide to Making CAKES.

If you have ever read books on cake recipes, you will notice they all tend to follow similar instructions, no matter what ingredients are used. I have therefore taken the liberty of simplifying the procedures by trying to cover several recipes as follows:-

4 oz Soft Margarine 4 oz Caster Sugar
8 oz Self Raising .Flour
(Pinch Salt if desired)
6 oz Dried Fruit etc
Teaspoon Mixed Spice or Flavouring
2 eggs
Cook for 1 to 1 1/4 hour at 180 C.

Or either:-
Heaped teaspoon Caraway seed
100 Gram Cherries or Mixed Peel
1/2 packet Coconut
6 oz Raisins/Currants/Sultanas/Dried Dates

Or:-

6 Teaspoons Cocoa/Coffee, Vanilla Flavouring, teaspoon Bicarb, 4 teaspoons Golden Syrup,include a few currants if desired. Add say 2 of teaspoons of cocoa/coffee to any icing used.

(NOTE: 1 ounce = 28.35 grammes)

First mix the soft margarine with the caster sugar, then mix in the flour, add the pinch of salt if desired and the mixed spices if used. When using cocoa of coffee, mix this with the flour first before mixing with the marge/sugar. Put the eggs into 1/2 pint container, and beat and mix in vanilla etc flavouring. Use say lemon favour for mix peel and perhaps almond for coconut. Top up to almost 1/2 pint with milk then mix in. If the mixture does not become fairly free, add a little more milk. Grease the sides and bottom of the tin, and pour in the mixture and bake. The oven is best turned on awhile before baking the cake. When baked insert a small knife, and it should come out without any sticking to the knife, otherwise continue baking for say another 5 to 10 minutes. --- G.S.         gordonsweet2000@yahoo.co.uk Homepage