Basic Recipes

I hadn't planned on including this section, but as my Facebook and Tumblr page followers have grown, I've had more and more people asking me what recipes I use when making my cakes (both cupcakes and larger ones).

So here I've included a couple of my most frequently used recipes. No haters please, this might not be how you do it.. but it's how I do it :) 

Classic sponge cake

This should make enough mixture for a regular sized 8" sponge

125g Caster Sugar
125g Softened butter or margarine (I like Stork... u got that one for free Stork!)
2 medium eggs
125g Self Raising flour
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder

STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 180C and line two 8" tins with grease proof paper (both the bottom and the sides).

STEP 2
Cream the butter and the sugar together to make a pale smooth mixture

STEP 3
Beat in the eggs

STEP 4
Sieve in the flour and baking powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add vanilla essence.

STEP 5
Divide the mixture into the tins and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. You can check that the cake is ready by inserting a skewer into the middle. The cake is cooked through when the skewer comes out clean (and not sticky).

Chocolate sponge cake

60g dark chocolate (coarsely chopped)
100ml water
90g Softened butter or Stork margarine (and again Stork!)
220g brown sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

STEP 1
Preheat oven to 170C and line two 8" tins with grease proof paper (both the bottom and the sides).

STEP 2
Add the chocolate to the water in a small saucepan and stir until smooth on a low heat.

STEP 3
Combine butter, sugar and the eggs in a bowl until smooth.

STEP 4
Sift in flour, cocoa and then the warm chocolate/water mixture and stir until smooth. Divide this amongst the tins.

STEP 5
Because the mixture isn't as thick as a normal sponge mixture (due to the water/choc mix), bake for about 40 mins in the oven, testing that the cake is ready by inserting a skewer (when the skewer comes out clean, the cake is ready).