Basic Cake From Scratch

As I've mentioned before, food allergies are a big issue at Thistle Farm. Whenever a manufacturer 'improves' their product, I get to spend oodles of extra time at the grocery store reading ingredients to make sure the improvements won't make anyone sick. About seven years ago, the cake mix people went on a major 'improvement' binge and made all of my trusted brands unsuitable for our family. I thought, "Phooey on them! I'll make up my own recipe."

A few things you need to know before you bake this cake:

This recipe is equivalent to TWO box cake mixes, so it feeds a crowd. If you want a normal, two 8" layers recipe, then cut this one in half.

This is a little more work than a box mix, but think of all the preservatives you won't be feeding your family. Also, you won't have all that cardboard & plastic bag trash.

If you measure your ingredients by weight, your cake will be consistent. I personally find that it makes a smaller mess & is easier to put ingredients together using weights instead of measuring cups.

Homemade cake will never be the same texture as a box cake. If you think a sweet & light muffin has a better texture than a Hostess Twinkie, then you will probably prefer my recipe to box mixes. If you are addicted to the box cake texture, then you will need to choose between serving your family a more nutritious & wholesome product or giving them a texture they are used to with all the extra chemicals. If you think texture will be an issue, introduce this recipe in muffin form. If they like that, then serve it as a 'coffee cake' next time [sprinkle cinnamon sugar generously over the top and chopped nuts if your family eats nuts]. If they like that, then make your own Birthday Cake using the recipe or offer to teach your aspiring chef how to make a 'real' cake.

One last thing - if you only eat homemade cake for about a year, then the next time you have a box mix cake, you will probably be able to taste the chemicals and box mixes will be ruined forever for you.


Basic Cake - Makes 10-11 cups of batter
[Equal to 2 box cake mixes - fills a 14" diameter circle pan perfectly for a sheet cake]

Get out two mixing bowls - one for wet ingredients & one for dry ingredients. If you have a stand mixer, use the mixer's bowl for the wet ingredients and a separate bowl on the side for the dry ingredients.

Pre-Heat Oven to 325 degrees F. An accurate temperature is important enough to justify investing in an oven thermometer [I think it's about $5-10]. If your oven is too hot, you will get a volcano peak in the middle of your cake [this makes writing 'Happy Birthday' in frosting very difficult...]!

Grease & Flour your pans.

Put into the 'Wet' bowl:

6 eggs
[315 grams] 1-1/2 cups oil
1 Tbls. Vanilla
[350 grams] 1-1/2 cups milk, water, soy milk, or juice
1-1/2 tsp. salt
[450 grams] 2 cups sugar {there is 1 more cup sugar later for 3 total cups in recipe}

Whip Wet ingredients on high until doubled in volume. You want to see a foamy mass of tiny bubbles in the lemon-yellow liquid. A hand-held mixer may not be able to double the volume, but try for at least 5 minutes before you give up. The tiny bubbles you are making help lighten the cake, & so are very important. I put the Wet ingredients in my stand mixer & turn it on while I put together the dry ingredients, and that is usually a perfect amount of time for whipping the wet ingredients.

In your Dry Bowl, sift together:
[Yes, you really need to sift it]

[650 grams] 5 cups unbleached flour [you can use 'cake' flour for super light cake texture, but it doesn't taste as good and all nutritional value is pretty much gone]
5 tsp. baking powder
[200 grams] 1 cup sugar

Using pastry blender or dry wire beaters, Cut in:

[250 grams] 1-1/3 cups vegetable shortening

When the shortening is fully mixed into the dry ingredients it will look like coarse cornmeal. You won't see any blobs of shortening, and a handful will press together if you squeeze it, but will crumble easily & brush off your hands.

Gently pour the Dry ingredients bowl into the Wet ingredients bowl. DO NOT OVER MIX! The directions on the back of box cakes that say 'beat on high for 2 minutes' are just wrong, and it makes a very tough cake. You want to preserve as many of those tiny bubbles you whipped into the Wet ingredients as possible, and you just want to gently coat every crumb of the Dry ingredients with easy stirring so that your batter is smooth and fully blended but not full of giant bubbles from rough mixing. This is a step that can be done by hand. It takes no more than 20 seconds on my stand mixer's lowest setting to fully blend the batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan(s). Fill each pan no more than half full.

Bake ~15 minutes for "muffins"
~20 minutes for 8" layers
~40 minutes for a 14" diameter sheet cake

The cake is done when it has pulled away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you touch it lightly in the center, your finger will feel a firm resistance and will not make a permanent dent.

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack [unless it is a sheet cake that is going to travel in its original pan to its dessert destination - it's OK to leave the cake in the pan to serve]. If you wait too long to turn the cake out of the pan, it won't release cleanly & could tear itself up.

Frost & fill as desired.

What to do with leftovers...

If you have a cake that tore itself to bits coming out of the pan or just a lot of plain cake left over, cut or break into 1" cubes and layer it in a clear serving bowl with whipped cream, pudding, fruit, or anything else that might sound yummy. It's called Trifle, and it is a great way to take a broken or too dry cake disaster & turn it into a culinary success with a huge 'WOW' factor!