X’mas 2011 and its time to bake some cake, chose the easiest of them and the least time extensive process, so its a simple mixed dry fruit cake.
Once you mix all the ingredients here is what you get below.

Ingredients:
- 500 g self-raising flour.
- 250 g light spread (healthy option to butter)
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla flavoring
- 4 eggs
- 320 g caster sugar
- 1/2 (60 ml) Milk
- Icing sugar for decorating
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Mixed dry fruits and nuts cut into small pieces
- A Hand mixer or a cake mixer if u have one.
- A cake tin or any other baking dish
- and an Oven
- and finally lots of love
Pre-Heating : Pre heat the oven to 180C, its better to have an oven thermometer, so that you are sure its the correct temperature.
Creaming : Mixing the butter and sugar well to form a creamy texture.
From a couple of initial failed attempts at baking, the key thing to get a good bake is all in the mixing stage, aerating it, meaning, incorporating good amounts of air into the mix so that it expands when baking and makes the cake fluffy and gives it a texture, do not add all ingredients and mix together, mix them one by one.
- Whisk the eggs at medium speed, start slow, then build up (white and yolk together) until it doubles in volume
- In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt and keep it aside.
- In a suitably large bowl, add the Light spread (used this instead of butter as a healthy option) and start whisking so that the spread starts to soften.
- Slowly add all of the caster sugar to the spread whisking it all along, after 5 minutes you should get a spongy smooth texture with the spread and sugar mixed well.
- Whisking it at low speed, add the whisked eggs slowly and whisk well to mix.
- Add the vanilla flavoring.
Folding : This is a process of gently adding the flour, do not beat or whisk at this stage, if you do you will lose all the air in the mixture and the cake will become dense.
- Gently Sift the flour mix in small quantities and mix, make sure not to form any lumps, mix gently with a spoon.
- Add milk if the flour becomes too thick
- Finally add the mixed nuts.
- Pour the cake mixture onto the greased tin.
- Sprinkle some mixed nuts on top.
- Stick it into the Oven second rack from top and leave it at 180C for approx 40 to 50 minutes.
- Make sure not to over bake it, the cake should have a golden texture to it.
- To check if the cake is done, insert a knife and it should come out clean without the cake sticking to it, if it does then the cake is baked.
- Sprinkle some icing sugar on top and brush the top with milk to give it a glazing.
And this is what it looks now.
