Scratch Cake

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I've had a craving for cake and since the market was out of yellow cake mix, I decided to make my own cake from scratch. My mom used to make some in a few minutes from butter, sugar, flour and eggs and it was wonderful. I found an online recipe. How could something so simple be so difficult? First, the sugar and butter got repeatedly clogged up in the hand mixer beaters. I tried to dislodge the clumps by turning up the speed. It did dislodge some - all over the kitchen counter. The dry ingredients wouldn't go through the sifter. I did manage to get some in the baking dish and it was okay, but didn't taste like mom's. Here the recipe I used:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder ½ cup butter, room temperature 1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Beat butter and white sugar until fluffy and light in color.
Gradually add eggs, beating well after each addition then stir in vanilla.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Stir until just blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire rack to cool completely.
 

debodun said:
I've had a craving for cake and since the market was out of yellow cake mix, I decided to make my own cake from scratch. My mom used to make some in a few minutes from butter, sugar, flour and eggs and it was wonderful. I found an online recipe. How could something so simple be so difficult? First, the sugar and butter got repeatedly clogged up in the hand mixer beaters. I tried to dislodge the clumps by turning up the speed. It did dislodge some - all over the kitchen counter. The dry ingredients wouldn't go through the sifter. I did manage to get some in the baking dish and it was okay, but didn't taste like mom's. Here the recipe I used:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder ½ cup butter, room temperature 1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Beat butter and white sugar until fluffy and light in color.
Gradually add eggs, beating well after each addition then stir in vanilla.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Stir until just blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire rack to cool completely.
Click to expand...
I tried a recipe like that long ago. Didn't have a flour sifter. Came out the approximate texture of a concrete brick. One of my very few baking/cooking disasters! worse yet, I'd made it for one of my kids' birthdays. Good-natured kid ate it anyway, even said it wasn't bad!
 
Camper6 said:
Cake mixes are the answer to a bachelors dream. I make muffins and buy the frosting. Served with ice cream.
Click to expand...

A quick cake for a bachelor! Add any flavor of cake mix to an Angel Food cake mix. (Shake in a big bowl). Store this in an airtight bag. When you feel like cake, Put three tbsp. in a large coffee mug and stir in 2 tbsp. water. Microwave i minute. THE SECOND CAKE MIX MUST BE ANGEL FOOD. Ta Da! You now have a hot serving of fresh cake! Serve with your ice cream or your canned frosting!
 
Gaer said:
A quick cake for a bachelor! Add any flavor of cake mix to an Angel Food cake mix. (Shake in a big bowl). Store this in an airtight bag. When you feel like cake, Put three tbsp. in a large coffee mug and stir in 2 tbsp. water. Microwave i minute. THE SECOND CAKE MIX MUST BE ANGEL FOOD. Ta Da! You now have a hot serving of fresh cake! Serve with your ice cream or your canned frosting!
Click to expand...
I spotted that exact thing complete with the mug at our local store.

Now I know what it is. Next time I need a mug I will buy it and use this recipe.

Thanks.

The worse thing about cooking from scratch. Stepping back and saying, "I can't believe I used all those pots and pans" including the beaters which never clean really easilly .
 
One of the problems may have been the butter. It said to use room tremperature. I had the stick out of the fridge for hours and it still felt firm. I put it in a covered bowl and put that on the radiator and even after quite some time the stick was still hard. What kind of butter was that?
 
debodun said:
One of the problems may have been the butter. It said to use room tremperature. I had the stick out of the fridge for hours and it still felt firm. I put it in a covered bowl and put that on the radiator and even after quite some time the stick was still hard. What kind of butter was that?
Click to expand...


My guess, it was not real pure butter. Came from a laboratory instead of a cow.
 
Since you're using a hand mixer, use a small circumference but deep bowl for creaming together butter and sugar. Room temperature for the butter is key. You may even do a few seconds in the microwave ..NOT to melt, but just slightly soften a bit more.
 
It does indeed, Judycat. It didn't say in the ingredients that stabilizers were added, though. If my mom left a stick of butter in the bowl on the radiator, it would have melted! Maybe cows are different now than 50 years ago - who knows what they are given to eat or injected with.
 
Gaer said:
A quick cake for a bachelor! Add any flavor of cake mix to an Angel Food cake mix. (Shake in a big bowl). Store this in an airtight bag. When you feel like cake, Put three tbsp. in a large coffee mug and stir in 2 tbsp. water. Microwave i minute. THE SECOND CAKE MIX MUST BE ANGEL FOOD. Ta Da! You now have a hot serving of fresh cake! Serve with your ice cream or your canned frosting!
Click to expand...
What is the size of the serving?
 
One cake that always did well for me was the pineapple angelfood cake - two ingredients - one can of crushed pineapple (with juice) and one box of angelfood cake mix. Mix together and pour in an ungreased bundt pan. Bake according to the cake package directions.

But the I used a cake mix, not a scratch cake.
 

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