For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you most likely will have been bombarded with cake pictures this week. These past few weeks, my continuous routine of online classes and digital homework has started to play its toll on my eyes. Every morning for my classes, I have my zoom class open on my laptop, my textbook open on my iPad and use my Chinese dictionary app on my phone. For at least 4 hours a day 5 times a week, my attention is on these three screens.
Currently I have been suffering as my eyes constantly ache and feel strained, I am getting quite frequent headaches and I am struggling to sleep, which I think may all be partly due to my increased screen time! My lovely friend Alana has recommended blue light glasses, as they have worked wonders for her, however while I wait for mine to arrive, I have had to keep myself occupied without looking at a screen too much.
In the past when I have needed to pass time or procrastinate, I have not been shy to get myself on Netflix and start binge watching. One of my proudest achievements to date might have to be that I have watched all 6 series of Gossip Girl, which is a total of 121 episodes, all the way through 5 times. Get me on Mastermind, Gossip Girl is absolutely my specialist subject! Sadly, as soothing as Blair’s headbands and Upper East Side life is, sitting in front of the TV is the last thing that I need.
So instead, I have released my inner Nigella Lawson and have been trying to bring some indulgence into everyone’s lockdown life. It is safe to say that I have become a bit of a binge baker! Baking has been a perfect way for me to enjoyably pass time and to do something creative at the same time. I am so happy at the responses I am getting to my cakes, and that people are buying them off me, so that I don’t have to eat them all myself! It is so nice to know that I can help to make people’s lockdown birthdays that small bit more exciting with my cakes.
With this being said, I thought I would share a very easy cake recipe that can be made with small quantities of ingredients, so can hopefully be made using things you already have in the cupboard, and if I do say so myself, is extremely yummy!
Ingredients
Vanilla sponge
100g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk
To decorate
100g chocolate (I usually use dark chocolate, but you can use whatever you have/fancy)
100ml double cream
1 teaspoon icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fresh fruit/berries of your choice
1) Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm cake tin with butter and line the bottom of the tin with greaseproof paper.
2) Cube your butter and place it into a mixing bowl. I usually soften the butter in the microwave for 20 seconds or so, and then add the sugar into the bowl.
3) Cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is light, fluffy and a pale white colour.
4) Beat in one egg until it is fully combined with the creamed butter and sugar. Next, add half of the flour, and gently fold together.
5) Repeat step 4 so that you have added the second egg and the remaining flour. Fold in the baking powder.
6) Next mix in the vanilla extract. The mixture should easily fall off the spoon, if it is too stiff, add a few drops of milk to loosen it a little.
7) Pour the mix into the greased cake tin and bake in the oven for 30 minutes/ until it is golden brown. To double check the cake is cooked, poke a knife into the middle of the cake and it should come out clean.
8) Remove the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Then remove from the cake tin and leave to cool for a further 30 minutes or so on a wire rack.
9) While the cake is cooling, place the cream into a bowl with the icing sugar and vanilla and whip using an electric whisk until it becomes soft peaks.
10) Heat the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, until it is all completely melted.
11) Wash, dry and chop your fruit.
12) Now to decorate the cake! I used a teaspoon to make little drips of chocolate down the sides of the cake, and piped the cream on with a piping bag, however if you are desperate to start eating/ don’t have any piping bags, feel free to just pile the chocolate and cream on, it will taste just as good!
13) Finally, enjoy xoxo