When you are a student baking is probably not something that is on top of the agenda, but it should be as its great fun and can be very easy and cheap if you follow a simple recipe.
If you haven’t baked before we have put together a really simple recipe to get your started and hone your skills.
Baking tips –
- Preheat your over first to the temperature you want to bake at.
- Use room temperature eggs not eggs from the freezer.
- Baking isn’t like cooking – you need to be precise with your measurements, so you will need scales.
Basic Sponge Cake
The following is a simple recipe for a sponge cake. You can use this as a base to make other cakes – with a few additional ingredients you can make a chocolate cake for your friends birthday, a coffee cake for a party, or a lemon cake…. the list goes on.
Equipment:
2 x cake tins (20.5cm)
Baking paper
Whisk
Large mixing bowl
Sieve
Wire rack
Ingredients:
Butter, for greasing tins
3 eggs, separated
225g caster sugar
70ml warm water
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5.
Spread a little butter around the cake tins and line them with baking paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and caster sugar until combined. Carefully add the water and keep whisking until you have a light fluffy mixture and all the ingredients are well combined.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl.
Whisk the eggs whites in a separate bowl and add them to the other mixture, using a large spoon to scoop them in so that you don’t lose the air.
Spoon the mixture evenly into the two cake tins and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. When
cooked, turn the cakes onto a wire rack to cool. Fill with jam, cream or fruit compote and dust the top with icing sugar.
And thats it! Sit back and relax and once the cake has cooled you have a delicious cake to eat!
If you would like to learn more about baking or for more recipe ideas visit www.bakingmad.com

