My neighbour just celebrated another birthday and her 7 year-old daughter and me schemed to do something nice for her.
Knowing we were going out for sushi last Friday, I baked a really simple foundation cake that we could come back and have for dessert. You can use this recipe as a basis for pattypan cakes (cupcakes), 2 loaf cakes with added nuts & dried fruit, grate an apple and add a couple of tabs of natural yoghurt for a delicious muffin batter – it’s really only limited by your imagination! Here’s the recipe:
- 1 scant cup sugar
- 3/4 cup (375g) butter or shortening
- 3 cups SR flour, sifted
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- a few drops of real vanilla essence
Mix the butter and sugar together thoroughly, add the vanilla. Mix in the eggs one at a time, alternating with the cups of sifted flour. As it starts to get really stiff, add the milk gradually until the batter is silky.
Pour into a prepared cake tin and bake for approx 40mins in a moderate oven (until the cake starts shrinking away from the sides of the pan). Leave for 10mins in the tin and then turn out onto a cake rack and cool thoroughly.
Split the cake in half and trim the top if you want a flat-top cake to decorate! With a broad spatula spread a good quality creme fraiche sparingly over the bottom half of the cake. (I used low-fat but you could use spreadable low or no-fat cream cheese). Sprinkle with fruit of your choice. I know Karen loves raspberries so I used approx half a frozen pack (about 150g). Then place the top half on and cover sides and top with creme fraiche.
Finally, Georgia stepped up and did the finishing – which included half a can of low-fat whipped cream! – the rest of the raspberries and some cute little mini pink & white marshmallows. The result was an incredibly messy kitchen, but a happy kid, happy mum and a memorable cake!
Karen's cake as decorated by Georgia!
Debra Manskey
Bumper Crop 