Hi & Welcome

I am a mother to 3 teenagers and work from home which give me lots of time in my hand. I started having interest in cooking & baking after seeing my friends post their 'products' in Facebook. I did attempt baking years ago but it always ended up in failure. When a friend started the 'Learn2Bake' club in April 2010 thru Facebook, I signed up and gave myself a chance to try baking again.

The  1st challenge was "Back to Basics - Butter Cake". I remembered baking butter cake using premix bought from stores and also the outcome of the cake which was a disaster as it was always uncook in the middle.

This challenge requires us to bake from scratch which means no premix allowed. I have to say it sounded easy but my 1st attempt was not a disaster but also not 'pretty' but edible..ha.ha.. After some advice from friends and members of the club, my 2nd attempt was great. Thank you all for the advice :-)

My 1st attempt - with cracks and almost burnt top.

My 2nd attempt was much better. With advice to cover with aluminium foil halfway thru baking, I managed to get a 'nice looking' butter cake.











Here's the easy recipe for you all to try out.

BASIC BUTTER CAKE
Ingredients:
200gm Self-Raising Flour (you can use 1 cup plain flour plus 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp baking soda)
120gm caster sugar
250 gm Butter
5 eggs

Method:
1)Pre-heat oven to 180~C (remember to always pre-heat your oven 15-20 before you bake)
2) Sift the flour.
3) Lightly beat the eggs in a separate bowl.
4) Cream the butter and the sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the egg, mix well after each addition.
5) Fold in the flour and mix well until all the flour are incorporated into the batter.
6) Line the bottom of a 7" round baking tin with parchment paper / greaseproof paper and lightly greased the sides of the tine with butter.
7) Bake the cake at 180~C for 40-45 minutes, or until the skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.