How To
The Top 5 Cakes Brits Love
As a nation, we are united by our mutual love of cake. We have developed, and enjoyed, a cake for every occasion. They are used to celebrate birthdays, christenings, baby showers, weddings and even engagement parties. Not only are they the dessert of occasions, but they also deliver a sweet treat when we need it most, as well as making a decorative, tasty touch on an afternoon tea. While there are hundreds of baked goods that could have made our list, here at Neo Direct, we have chosen 5 scrumptious recipes of Brits best-loved cakes to share with you.
How to make Battenburg cake
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 1 hour
Makes: 2 Cakes (10 slices each)
Ingredients
Almond Sponge
175g of soft butter
175g golden caster sugar
140g self-raising flour
50g ground almonds
½ tbs baking powder
3 medium eggs
½ tbs vanilla extract
¼ tbs almond extract
Pink Sponge
1 x ingredients for the almond sponge
Pink food colouring
Assembling
200g apricot jam
2 x 500g blocks white marzipan
Icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. For the almond sponge, place the butter, sugar, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond extract into an electric stand mixer and whisk until the mix appears nice and smooth. Scrape into the tin and spread to the corners. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 mins. After it has baked, cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling while you make the pink sponge.
- Now for the pink sponge, line the tin as you did for the almond sponge. Mix all the ingredients together (no almond extract) in the electric stand mixer, as above. Fold in some pink food colouring. Scrape it into the tin and bake as before. Cool.
- Now for the assembling part, heat the jam in a small pan until it is nice and runny, then sieve. Lightly trim two opposite edges from the almond sponge, then well trim a third edge. Roughly measure the height of the sponge, then using the well-trimmed edge, use a ruler to help you cut 4 slices each the same width as the sponge height. Then repeat this with pink cake.
- Take 2 x almond slices and 2 x pink slices and trim so they are all the same length. Roll out one marzipan block on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to just over 20cm wide, then keep rolling lengthways until the marzipan is roughly 0.5cm thick. Brush with apricot jam, then lay a pink and an almond slice side by side at one end of the marzipan, brushing jam in between to stick sponges, and leaving 4cm clear marzipan at the end. Brush more jam on top of the sponges, then sandwich remaining 2 slices on top, alternating colours to create that checkerboard effect we all know and love. Trim the marzipan to the length of the cake.
- Delicately lift up the marzipan and smooth over the cake with your hands, leaving the joining fold along the bottom. Trim the opposite side to match the size of the fold, then crimp the edges using your fingers or a fork.
- Keep your cakes in an airtight container or cling film for up to 3 days. Can be frozen for a month if needed.
How to make fruit cake
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 45 mins
Makes: 1 Cake (12 slices)
Ingredients
400g mixed dried fruits
125g soft butter
3 large eggs
60ml milk
1 rounded tablespoon of ham (your choice of flavour)
125g soft brown sugar (dark or light)
250g self raising flour
2 teaspoons (10ml) of mixed spice
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan/gas mark 3 and grease tin with butter or fill with a baking parchment liner prior to cooking.
- Place all the ingredients (except the fruit) into the large bowl attached to your electric stand mixer.
- Beat them together gently.
- Scrape the mixture down and mix again.
- Add the dried fruit and stir in by hand (an electric mixer will break up the fruit).
- Carefully pour the mixture into your tin and use your knife or spoon to make a slight depression in the top of the mixture (to reduce the domed top).
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Take the cake out the oven and leave to cool inside the tin for 10 minutes. Once you have done that, you can turn it out onto a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Store in an airtight box. You can keep it in the fridge for at least a week. Decorate as you please.
How to make chocolate chip cake
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Makes: 10-12 servings
Ingredients
200g soft butter
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs
320g self-raising flour
150g chocolate chips
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas Mark 4.
- Grease your tin and line with baking parchment.
- Cream the butter and sugar together using your electric stand mixer. Add one egg at a time and beat thoroughly. Add the flour and mix until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared tin.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Take it out and then loosely cover with foil and bake for a further 20 to 30 mins.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
How to make a moist Madeira cake
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
150g of soft, salted butter
50g vegetable oil
200g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
140g plain flour
3 tbsp baking powder
Extra butter or jam to serve
(To ensure a good rise, we would recommend taking your eggs and butter out of the fridge 3-4 hours before baking. This makes sure they are are at room temperature)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160C/140C fan/Gas 2 and line your tin with baking parchment.
- Pour your oil and butter into your electric stand mixer bowl and whisk together. Then add your sugar and beat for at least 5 minutes. You should do this until your mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add your eggs to the mixture at a time. We would recommend breaking your eggs into a separate bowl first, to ensure you don’t get any shell in your mixture. Whisk using your electric stand mixer for at least a minute.
- Add flour and baking powder to the mix. Fold gently with a large metal spoon, scooping the mixture from the bottom to the top until the mixture is smooth. Be careful not to over mix.
- Pour the mixture into your linded tine and smooth out, don’t worry if it’s not perfect. Place into your preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. Once baked it should be golden brown on top.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy served with butter, fresh cream, jam or strawberries (whatever tickles your taste buds) !
How to make lemon drizzle cake
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Makes: 10 servings
Ingredients
Cake
225g soft, unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
Finely grated lemon zest
Drizzle topping
1 ½ lemons
85g caster sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4
- Beat together the butter and caster sugar using your electric stand mixer until creamy and pale. Add your eggs, one at a time, slowly mixing through.
- Gradually sift in self-raising flour and add the zest of 1 lemon and mix.
- Line your loaf tin with greaseproof paper and spoon in the mixture. Level out using the back of a large spoon.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes until a golden brown colour.
- While the cake is cooling, mix together the juice of 1 ½ lemons and 85g of caster cougar to make the drizzle.
- Spike the warm cake with a skewer or fork, then pour over the dizzle you’ve just made. The juice will sink in and the sugar will form a firm, crisp drizzle topping.
- Leave in the tin until it has completely cooled, then remove and serve.
- You can keep your lemon drizzle cake in an airtight container for 3-4 days. It can be frozen for upto a month if needed.
Feeling inspired?
If these tasty cake recipes have inspired you to get baking, here at Neo Direct, we have a whole host of equipment that makes baking in your home both effortless and fun. Why not explore our modern array of kitchen appliances, where you’ll find our sleek electric stand mixers that save time and energy when cooking or baking. There’s a choice of sleek colours available, so you’re sure to find one that will fit nicely into your kitchen.
A cup of tea makes the perfect accompaniment to any British cake, check out our illuminating glass kettle or a convenient hot water dispenser, to brew the perfect temperature.
It’s easy to lose your cool in the kitchen, especially when you’re busy with hot appliances. Keep cool, calm and collected with one of our free standing tower fans, perfectly situated in the kitchen, or other rooms of your house.