Cake Baking Factsheet

There are 3 different types of plain sponge cake that you can use for a cake that
is to be covered in sugarpaste: victoria, madeira or genoese. I have to be honest
and say that because Ive not had much luck !ith genoese sponges "and
because they have such a short shelf life#, I have stuck !ith victoria sponge or
madeira cake. For a standard celebration cake, I tend to use a victoria sponge
but for something that needs to be a bit more sturdy "for e$ample a carved cake
or a !edding cake !hich needs to be tiered# I have al!ays used a madeira cake.
The main difference bet!een a madeira and a victoria sponge cake is the
addition of e$tra plain flour. This gives it a more dense te$ture and a closer
crumb. It can be a little drier but lasts !ell and once covered !ith sugarpaste
"!ithin %&'&( hrs of baking# !ill last a good )* + )% days, giving you a !eek to
decorate it and a !eek to eat it.
,n the ne$t fe! pages are the recipes and methods, I have found that !ork for
me. The more cakes you bake, the more you !ill adapt these to your o!n tastes
and e$periences. Ive tried so many different combinations of makes and
-ualities of ingredient that Ive almost lost count of the number of cakes Ive
been unhappy !ith in searching for the perfect mi$. But, I think Ive finally
!orked out !hat Im happy !ith and here are my findings.
Ingredients:
.F/T ' I al!ays use a baking margarine
"I tend to go for the supermarkets o!n
brand margarine, sold in the %kg tubs#.
Ive tried butter on a number of
occasions and 0ust find that its too hard
to !ork !ith "unless its the height of
summer1#.
.F2,34 + This does tend to make a
difference. I like to go for a good -uality
sponge cake flour !hich is finer in
te$ture than the standard supermarket
flour.
.C/5T64 537/4 + The make doesnt seem to make a difference, in
my opinion. 8ave tried all sorts of makes and 0ust dont think it matters.
.6775 + I al!ays use large free range + even for dummies !hen I
kno! its not going to be eaten
6-uipment
Ive tried making cakes by hand, hand held mi$er and using a large stand mi$er.
By far the best !ay to do it seems to be a combination of !ooden spoon and
hand held mi$er. I !ould use the hand held mi$er to cream the fat and the sugar
and then finish it by hand. This isnt al!ays practical if you have large cakes, or
several cakes, to bake. This is !here a stand mi$er comes into its o!n. They are
great for large -uantities of cake mi$ and, because they are free standing, you
can get other ingredients ready !hile its doing the !ork. 8o!ever, I have found
that its really easy to over mi$ the batter using one and I managed to create
some really doughy cakes !hen I !as first learning ho! to use it. The other
do!nside to using a stand mi$er is that you have to scrape do!n the sides really
carefully and fre-uently in order to make sure that all of the ingredients are
thoroughly mi$ed. Ive found greasy spots in my cakes on a fe! occasions !hen
I hadnt done this, !hich I can only put do!n to small lumps of margarine and
sugar !hich I havent combined properly !ith the eggs and the flour.
Cake Tins
I have used a number of cake tins and prefer to use the heavy duty style ones
rather than the shallo! sand!ich tins. I like the fact that they are nice and deep
so I can use them for fruit cake, deep madeiras or shallo!er sponge cakes. I
think they distribute heat !ell throughout the cake mi$ and dont !arp. For the
amount I have used them, they have definitely been a good investment of
money.
9ictoria 5ponge
For an (: round sponge cake you !ill need ( large eggs and around ;;*g of margarine, self
raising flour and caster sugar.
<ake sure you take the eggs and margarine out of the fridge at least an hour before you are
due to start so that they can come to room temperature. If these ingredients are too cold, your
mi$ture is more likely to curdle !hen you add the eggs to the creamed sugar and fat.
"I kno! that ( eggs seems a lot, but for the purpose of baking a cake for either the celebration
cakes class or the tiered cakes, it is helpful to have slightly larger cakes than you !ould
normally bake + there !ill be left overs !hich you can take home for cake pops.#

=reheat your oven to )>*?C. =repare your tin by either lining !ith greaseproof paper "both
bottom and sides# or lining the base !ith greaseproof paper and smearing margarine
around the sides. I have also use the spray cake release type stuff that comes in an
aerosol can + I really like it as it saves so much time and I hate lining tins.

@eigh the ( large eggs in their shells and make a note of their !eight.

@eigh out this -uantity of margarine and caster sugar. Cream these together in a large
bo!l using either a !ooden spoon or a hand held mi$er until light in colour and fluffy in
te$ture. <ake sure you scrape the bo!l !ith a spatula at regular intervals to ensure that
the ingredients are evenly mi$ed. @hen you can no longer hear a crunch as you tap the
bottom of the bo!l !ith your spoon, then you kno! its ready.

@eigh the self raising flour to the same amount as the !eighed eggs. Ive not found sieving
is necessary !ith the really fine flour.

Beat in your eggs one at a time !ith %'3 teaspoons of self raising flour per egg, to prevent
curdling. ,nce all of your eggs are mi$ed in, make sure your bo!l is !ell scraped do!n
and give the mi$ one final beat.

Ao! add the remaining flour a couple of tablespoons at a time. @ith each addition, fold the
flour into the mi$ture !ith a figure of eight movement !ith your spoon.

,nce the cake batter is ready, you can pour it into three (: cake tins so that each contains
e-ual -uantities. ,r, you can use t!o cake tins but make sure you have t!ice the -uantity
of batter in one than the other. To make this a bit easier + as long as you have at least
(;*g of batter in one tin and &;*g of batter in the other, you !ill definitely have t!o cakes
deep enough for the class. Bont try to bake it all in one go.

Cou !ill need to bake your cakes in an oven "preheated to )>*?C# for appro$imately 3;
mins "for the small cakes# or ;* mins "for the larger cake#. This is appro$imate as ovens
vary in so many !ays. It is al!ays !orth making a note of your timings for future reference.
Cou !ill kno! if its ready because a ske!er inserted into the centre of the cake !ill come
out clean. If its not ready, pop it back in the oven for an e$tra ; minutes and repeat the
ske!er test until it comes out clean.

2eave to cool for ten minutes in the tin before turning out onto a !ire rack to completely
cool.

,nce cool, !rap in cling film and leave to settle for %&hrs before decorating.
<adeira Cake
I use almost the same method for a <adeira cake as for a 9ictoria sponge
/s !ith the 9ictoria 5ponge, you !ill need ( large eggs for the (: round cake,
around ;;*g or margarine, self raising flour and caster sugar and appro$imately
%**g of plain flour.
The instructions are precisely the same as for the 9ictoria sponge but for 3
points:

Calculate one third of the !eight of the eggs and !eigh out this -uantity of
plain flour. Fold this into the cake mi$ture !hen you fold in the self raising
flour.

To keep the cake moist you can add D tsp of glycerine !ith each egg.

/fter youve poured your cake batter into the tins, scoop the batter in the
centre to!ards the sides of the tin, creating a !ell in the centre !hich goes
right do!n to the base of the tin. This !ill fill in during baking and create a
flatter top to the fully baked cake.
It is fine to bake a madeira cake all in one go but I have found that it takes a long
time and you need to !rap the tin in ne!spaper to reduce the amount of crust,
as you !ould a fruit cake. Its my personal preference to bake it in smaller
-uantities as I have had much more success !ith this. /s for the victoria
sponge, once the cake batter is ready, you can pour it into three (: cake tins so
that each contains e-ual -uantities. ,r, you can use t!o cake tins but make sure
you have t!ice the -uantity of batter in one than the other. To make this a bit
easier + as long as you have at least (;*g of batter in one tin and &;*g of batter
in the other, you !ill definitely have t!o cakes deep enough for the class. Bake
and cool as per the victoria sponge.