Where they use the word cake in English to describe just about all types of cakes and pastries, in the Netherlands and Belgium we have a more limited understanding of the word cake. The cake here traditionally consists of a basic batter that can be varied endlessly. In general, a cake has a rectangular shape. The basic batter for cake consists of self-raising flour, butter and eggs. These are the ingredients that every baker has at home, making it often easy to make a cake.
What is a cake?
A cake is a fairly simple type of pastry. There is therefore a simple basic recipe, but of course you can vary endlessly. In general, a cake consists of a rectangular shape, but there are also variations in a turban shape or of course the well-known cupcakes.
Basic recipe for cake
Once you’ve mastered the basic cake recipe, you can vary endlessly with different shapes and flavors. The basic recipe is pretty simple in principle. Just keep in mind that baking time is very important with cake. Has the cake been in the oven just too short? Then there is a good chance that it will collapse after it has been removed from the oven. While a cake that has been in the oven for too long is just too dry and you want to avoid that.
Required ingredients
- 200 grams of self-raising flour
- 200 grams of butter (you can always choose whether you prefer butter or margarine).
- 3 eggs
- a splash of milk
- 1 packet of vanilla-flavored sugar
Preparation method
Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar with a mixer or food processor until smooth. Then add the eggs while stirring. Beat the mixture vigorously for about two minutes and then add the self-raising flour. Mix it for a while to a soft batter and then pour it into a greased cake tin.
Then let the cake cook for 75 minutes in a preheated oven at 160 degrees. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool before removing the cake from the baking tin and serving.
Cake variation: chocolate
When you have mastered the recipe for the basic cake, it is nice to vary the ingredients. For a chocolate cake you need to get the following extra ingredients:
- Cocoa powder
- 200 grams of chocolate (choose white, milk, dark or extra dark)
Preparation method
Add cocoa powder to your taste to the cake batter before pouring it into the cake tin. You can also choose to keep half of the cake normal and the other half chocolate cake. In that case divide the batter over two bowls. Add cocoa powder to one bowl and not to the other. First pour the batter with cocoa powder into the cake tin and then pour the normal batter on top. Then put the cake in the oven and bake for 75 minutes in a preheated oven at 160 degrees.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool. Meanwhile, melt the 200 grams of chocolate au bain marie. Remove the cake from the cake tin and put the cake on a nice platter. Then pour the melted chocolate over the cake and let it cool down. And enjoy!
Cake variety: blueberries
Have you ever heard of a blueberry cake? Once you have mastered the basic recipe, this is very easy to make. Get the following extra ingredient for this:
- 100 grams of blueberries
Preparation method
Prepare the basic batter in the normal way. Put the blueberries in a bowl and mash it. Then add the blueberry mixture to the base batter. Then pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 75 minutes in a preheated oven at 160 degrees. Let the cake cool down before removing it from the cake tin and cutting it.
