We all remember the taste of delicious homemade cakes baked by our moms. Do you want to bake quick, mouth-watering and healthy cakes for your children, too? Making a cake is very easy, provided you have the right recipe at hand.
Homemade cakes are better than ready-made and boxed cakes as they are healthy, curtail expenses and allow you to get the taste and texture you desire. Moreover, a homemade cake remarkably becomes part of your sweet memories.
Cake Recipes from Scratch
Be it anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, parties or Christmas, cakes are a must for every occasion. Though there are varieties of different cakes available in the market, homemade cakes have a unique taste. If you are a beginner at baking and are wondering how to bake a cake, let me tell you, making a cake is not difficult at all, in fact it is a “cakewalk”. So if you are all geared up, let’s learn how to make the perfect homemade cakes from scratch.
Plain Cake
The plain cake is the easiest cake you can bake at home. Children love to eat plain cakes, especially with a glass of warm milk.
Ingredients
• All-purpose flour, 1¼ cups
• Sugar, 1 cup
• Butter, 4 ounces
• Eggs, 3
• Milk, 1 tablespoon
• Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
• Baking powder, ½ teaspoon
Making Process
• Preheat the oven to 355° F.
• Anoint an 8-inch pan.
• Take a medium bowl, and mix butter and sugar in it.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beat after each addition and then stir in the vanilla extract.
• In another bowl, mix baking powder and flour.
• Then add the flour mixture to the egg batter.
• Stir the milk and mix well until it becomes smooth.
• Pour the batter in the already prepared pan and bake it in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Eggless Cake
The eggless cake is customized especially for vegetarians who love cakes, but cannot eat it because of the presence of eggs.
Ingredients
• All-purpose flour, 2½ cups
• Sweetened condensed milk, 1 can (14 ounces)
• Melted butter, 1 cup
• Orange juice, 1 cup
• Vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons
• Baking powder, 2 teaspoons
• Baking soda, 1 teaspoon
Making Process
• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• Anoint a 9×13-inch pan.
• Take a large bowl and sift baking soda, flour and baking powder in it.
• Make a well-like structure in the center and pour orange juice and sweetened condensed milk.
• Add melted butter and vanilla extract to the batter.
• Mix the contents well and pour into the anointed pan.
• Bake for about 30-45 minutes in the preheated oven. Try the toothpick test to see if the cake is ready.
Chocolate Cake
Once you are trained in making simple cakes, you can try the king of cakes – the chocolate cake! This recipe is very simple and can be made even by kids.
Ingredients
• Plain flour, 1⅓ cups
• Castor sugar, 1 cup
• Cocoa powder, ⅓ cup
• Butter (melted and cooled), 4 ounces
• Eggs, 2
• Buttermilk, 1 cup
• Baking soda, 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla essence, 1 teaspoon
Making Process
• Preheat the oven to 355° F.
• Anoint a 20 cm round and a 6 cm deep cake pan and line the base with baking paper.
• In a large bowl add sift flour, baking soda and cocoa powder.
• Stir in the sugar and set it aside.
• Mix eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter in a deep container.
• Make a well-like structure in center of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk batter in it.
• Beat the mixture with an electric mixer on low speed until it is combined well.
• Then increase the speed to high and beat further for about 3-4 minutes until the consistency is creamy and thick.
• Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 30-45 minutes.
• Allow the mixture to cool in a pan for about 5 minutes then turn onto the wire racks for cooling completely.
• For frosting, you will need icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter.
• Sift icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, add butter and 1 tablespoon boiling water, mix it well until it is smooth.
• Spread the frosting on the cake and refrigerate until firm.
Strawberry Cake
Come summer and we start seeing strawberries everywhere. There is a legend who says that if one cuts a strawberry into two halves and gives one piece to his/her partner, they will fall in love with each other. Strawberries are also healthy and tasty. This is just one of the many reasons why we all love strawberries and the confectioneries made from it.
Cheesecake
Cheesecake is one of the most popular cakes in the world. This confectionery is tasty to eat and easy to make. Here is a recipe of the homemade cheesecake.
Ingredients
• Cream cheese, 8 ounces
• Eggs, 3
• Graham cracker crumbs, 2 cups
• Cinnamon grounded, 2 cups
• Sour cream, 2 cups
• Sugar, 1 cup
• Sweetened condensed milk can, 1 cup
• Unsalted butter, melted, ½ cup
• Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
• Grated lemon, 1
Making Process
• For preparing the crust of the cheesecake, add Graham cracker crumbs, unsalted butter and grounded cinnamon to a bowl.
• Take a 22 centimeter wide baking pan and anoint it with butter on all the sides.
• Pour the mixture in the pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Take another bowl and prepare the filling by blending the cream cheese, sugar, grated lemon, vanilla extracts, sour cream and eggs.
• Pour the perfectly smooth mixture in the previously prepared crust pan.
• Now set the cheesecake pan in a roasting pan.
• Add foil paper to its sides.
• Pour hot water in the outer pan.
• Preheat the oven to 325° F and bake the cheesecake pan for about 30-45 minutes.
• Loosen the cheesecake.
• Do not use the toothpick trick in this case.
• Keep it in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours. You may then place it on a cake plate.
Tricks to Enhance Baking Skills
• Check that all the ingredients are in accurate measurements.
• To prevent the cake from sticking to the dish or plate do not forget to dust it lightly with confectioner’s sugar.
• You can cut your cakes evenly by marking middle points of the cake with a toothpick and then cutting it based on these points.
• In order to give a cake the right texture use ingredients that are at room temperature.
• Utilize a serrated knife for getting fine cake pieces. Use a non-serrated knife for cutting softer cakes like cheesecakes.
• Embellish your cakes with a variety of ingredients like strawberries, cherries, chocolate, etc.
• Do not forget to grease the insides of the baking pan before setting the batter in the oven.
• Make use of shiny nonstick pans for baking as they give the cakes a tender crust.
• It is always better to cool the cakes on wire racks.
• Before adding the icing to your cake, slip a wax paper under the cake so that the serving dish or plate will look clean and tidy.
• Store cakes with whipped cream and frostings in the refrigerator.
You can also experiment with a variation in shapes, frostings, fillings and decorations. Do try all the five recipes one by one and then decide the best one for yourself.