Its a shame how little I have been blogging since Siyona came into my life. This post will be another quick one. Straight to the point!
So, make a sponge cake. Here's how:
1 cup self raising flour,
1/3 rd cup soft butter (I find using leftover malai helps make the cake really soft so use that if you have some)
2 tb sp vegetable oil
1 tea spoon baking soda
1/2 tea sp soda bicarb
2 eggs (always measure 2 eggs per cup of flour)
1 tea sp vanilla extract or essence
1/3rd cup castor sugar
Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor. If dont have one use a hand-blender, or even the blender jar that comes with the 'mixie' :-). Add both eggs whole to this and blend.
Tip: I find if you separate the egg white and beat it till its light and frothy and fold this gently into the batter it make a very light cake. Always use a clean, dry vessel to beat egg whites otherwise they wont get beaten stiff. once you've beateb egg whites use quickly or they start loosing air after a few minutes.
So now that both eggs (or egg yolks), butter and sugar are creamed together. Sieve flour, baking soda and bicarb. Add to the egg mixture and blend till smooth. Add the vegetable oil while continuing to blend. Adding vegetable oil makes the cake spongier. Got this tip at a baking session conducted in a 5-Star. Dont over do the blending.
If you chose to beat yr egg white now is when u gently fold it in the batter.
Preheat the oven at 250 degrees. Pour the batter from a few inches above the greased and dusted baking dish. Adding it from a distance traps more air in the batter (for a lighter batter). Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes or till a knife inserted in the centre some out clean.
Cool the cake completely before applying the icing.
Icing: 1 tub of nestle dahi hung in a muslin clothe for 5-6 hours.
1/3 rd packet of the 200ml Amul frsh cream
4 tb sp of honey
1 tea sp of vanilla extract
zest of an orange(optional)
4 tbsp of icing sugar or use artificial sweetner
Beat the cream and sugar till light. Always use chilled cream. With our climate thats the best thing to do.
Beat the yogurt with the rest of the ingredients. Fold in the cream. Icing is ready.
Slice your cake into 2 or 3 slices (horizontally). Soak the slices in orange juice (dissolve 1 tsp of sugar in the juice first). Apply the icing. Spread some chopped fruits over each slice and layer them up. Cover the sides with icing and more fruits.
