How do you make the sponge for a cake mix.?

Question

i want to make my boyfriend a cake for his birthday but i have no idea how to make the sponge and the icing what will i need and how much will i need for a large cake. without using the ready made packets?

Answer 1

Well done Pinky for choosing to make the cake yourself and not using chemical ridden packet mixes instead.

1 take 4 oz butter and cut into cubes and put into a bowl or a food processor.
2 take 4 oz caster sugar and add to the butter and cream them together.
3 Add 2 eggs and mix together, the mix may curdle so add a little self raisng flour.
4 Add to the mixture 6 oz of self raising flour and mix well.
5 Well grease two cake sandwich tins and divide the mix equally between the two tins.
6 bake in the centre of the oven about gas 5 or equivalent until risen well.
7 test the middles of the cakes are cooked by inserting a thin instrument like a cocktail stick if it comes out clean the cakes are done if not, pop them back in for another 5-10mis until done.
8 Allow the cakes to cool and place on a cooling rack when they have shrunk from the edges of the tins, turn them out.
Fresh cream and jam make a lovely filling for the cake.
Place the top sponge on the top and place a paper doilly on the top. Sprinkle Icing suagr over the doilly and the pattern wil be left behind.
Easy!

Answer 2

I would recommend doing two sponges
depending on what size and shape tins you have will depend how much batter you need.
For a 7inch circular tin you will need
4oz Butter
4oz Sugar
40z S R Flour
2 eggs
per sponge.
This is a basic Victoria sponge, then tailor it to suit your boyfriend.
Example - Add a table spoon of milk and the seeds from a vanilla pod to the mix, then finish with jam and butter icing (unsalted butter and icing sugar) in the middle and a little icing sugar dredged over the top.
Or
Add cocoa power to the mix and make chocolate icing for the middle.
I am sure he will love it however you decide to do it. It is so much more personal and shows far more care and attention that just buying a cake or even a packet mix. He is a lucky man!

Answer 3

Follow the 1/2 eggs to other ingidents wieghts others have answered [2 to 4, 3 to 6 etc etc]
You can add lemon peel to the mix.
Blend icing sugar & butter togther [ cant help with weights as I just chuck it together again with some lemon peel.You need a soft buttery spread taste it if its to buttery add a little more sugar.
Spread on 1 sponge & sandwich together.
Make sure sponges are cool
Mix lemon juice & icing sugar until you get a runny paste pour over cake & again sprinkle with lemon peel
A little lemon juic goes a long way so dont make it to runny or it will end up all over the place.
Good luck homemade cakes are the best.

Answer 4

All you need to remember is 4442. Cream (beat together would do!) 4 Oz (I know it's old measures but 4442 - what can I say?) butter with 4 Oz sugar. add and beat in 2 eggs. Sieve 4 Oz self raising flour and fold (stir gently) in. Split it between 2 well greased baking trays and pop it in the oven for 25 - 30 mins at 180c. You know it's cooked if you push it gently and it springs back up. Don't open the oven for at least 15 - 20 mins or it won't rise properly. If you want to make chocolate cake just add a couple of table spoons of cocoa powder to the flour when you sieve it. Turn the cakes out pretty much as soon as you take them out the oven or they can go soggy with the steam in the tins.

For the icing, just mix heaps of icing sugar with a big spoon full of butter and a tiny bit of milk. Use a lot of icing sugar, but just keep tasting it til you think it's nice. Again for chocolate icing add cocoa powder. The trick with spreading the icing is to put a knife in warm water, dolop the icing on and use the warm wet knife to spread it, to give a smooth finish. You can buy writing icing or other decorations, or simpily candles - just use your imagination for that!

Easy! Hope that helps xx

Answer 5

6 ozs S/R flour
6 ozs caster sugar
6 ozs softened margarine
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix the baking powder with the flour.
Cream the marg' and caster sugar together with a hand whisk or wooden spoon until it turns a pale creamy colour.
Add one lightly stirred egg with a third of the flour and fold in until creamy, repeat with the remaining flour and eggs.
Pour into two sandwich tins that have been lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the centre of a med hot (gas 5 elec' 160) for 25 -35 min's or until golden brown. Don't be tempted to open the oven before the time is up because the cake will sink in the middle.
Cream 2 ozs butter with 2ozs icing sugar and spread it over one of the sponges, spread jam over the other and put them together for a lovely victoria sponge.

Answer 6

Yes some colors are just really difficult to achieve - that being black and red... I have done black in a cake but I started with a white cake and I think sponge cake is more yellow. Another idea is to start with a chocolate flavor - haven't tried that but it just might go darker. Yellow cake is very difficult to achieve good colors with unless you are going yellow or green - any other color is tough. Good luck. (PS - You're using food color paste right and now the liquid right?)

Answer 7

It depends on the size of cake you want really. I always make a birthday cake in my roasting tin (yeah, the one you cook the meat in). I use 12 ounces each of marg, sugar and flour, and 6 eggs.
Beat the marg and sugar together, until creamy. Add eggs one at a time til mixed in. add flour and mix. put whole mixture in tin and place in pre heated oven , gas mark 5 for 30/40 mins. Hey presto, 1 cake suitable for my family to celebrate a birthday.

Answer 8

4 eggs, same weight in flour sugar and margerine.
mix the sugar and marge till a paste, add the eggs, mix thouroughly then add flour. mix, add half to one cake tin, half to the other, put in oven about 180oc for 20 mins, keep close eye on it, golden brown=done. tip, if you poke the top and it springs back up its done.

icing. cream together some icing sugar and marg, spread like butter over one side of one half of the cooled cake. other half put jam on, stick together like a sandwich.

mix some icing sugar with some weter, pour over top of cake, add a few candle and voila!!

Answer 9

3 eggs
6oz flour
6oz butter
6oz sugar

mix it all up and put in oven for about 40 mins at 180 degrees.