Home » Good Old Plain Tea Cake

Good Old Plain Tea Cake

Written by Published on in Baking, Cakes
10-12 Servings ~ 40 minutes
  • 190g castor sugar
  • 190g margarine/butter (softened at room temperature)
  • 370g self-raising flour, sifted
  • 250ml fresh milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

This cake is very simple to make and will be a good starting point  for those learning how to bake at home. The trick is in the technique. Once you have that sorted, it will be a breeze here on out. This is the type of cake that mothers used to make back in the days. Very basic (without icing most of the time) but very delicious, especially with tea hobvu (colloquial for tea rich in milk)  on a cold day!

Resources/Equipment You Will Need

  • 10 ” round baking tin
  • Sieve
  • Mixing bowl
  • Electric Hand mixer (check my online store if you need one)
  • Measuring scale (check my online store if you need one)
  • Wooden spoon
  • Table knife

Quick Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit/ Gas Mark 5/ 160 degrees Celsius in fan assisted oven. Gather ingredients together (190g castor sugar, 190g margarine/butter (softened at room temperature); 370g self-raising flour, sifted
    250ml fresh milk; 2 eggs and2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)). Grease and lightly dust your baking tin with flour.
  2. Put margarine and sugar in mixing bowl. Use your hand mixer or wooden spoon to cream (mix) until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs one at a time and beating well (until just combined) after each addition. (However be careful not to over-beat as this may affect the outcome of your cake’s texture.)
  4. Add a little bit of the flour and mix (scraping the sides as you go where necessary so that the batter has an even outcome).
  5. Add a little bit of the milk and mix. Continue adding flour and milk in alternating doses until both are finished. Only mixing until just combined and taking care not to over-beat. If you over-beat your batter you will have a very dry and hard textured cake (that wouldn’t be too nice now would it? 😀 )
  6. Your batter is ready. At this point you may add essence if you wish. This could be vanilla, caramel, orange, lemon, etc.
  7. Pour batter into prepared baking tin and level out surface using table knife. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when inserted.
  8. When cake is done, allow it to cool on a cooling rack for at least 1 minutes in the cake tin.
  9. Allow it to cool for a further 20 or so minutes out of the cake tin before attempting to cut it. If you don’t give it time to cool it will crumble and break up. Enjoy!
Also see  How to make Creamed Spinach

Pictorial Detailed Instructions

Step-1
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit/ Gas Mark 5/ 160 degrees Celsius in fan assisted oven. Gather ingredients together.

 

Step-2
Put margarine and sugar in mixing bowl. Use your hand mixer or wooden spoon to cream (mix) until light and fluffy.

 

Step-3
Add eggs one at a time and beating well (until just combined) after each addition. (However be careful not to over-beat as this may affect the outcome of your cake’s texture.)

 

Step-4
Add flour and mix (scraping the sides as you go where necessary so that the batter has an even outcome).

 

Step-5
Add a little bit of the milk and mix. Continue adding flour and milk in alternating doses until both are finished. Only mixing until just combined and taking care not to over-beat. If you over-beat your batter you will have a very dry and hard textured cake (that wouldn’t be too nice now would it? 😀 )

 

Step-6
Your batter is ready. At this point you may add essence if you wish. This could be vanilla, caramel, orange, lemon, etc. In this case I left it plain.

 

Grease and lightly dust your baking tin with flour. Pour batter into prepared baking tin and level out surface using table knife. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Grease and lightly dust your baking tin with flour. Pour batter into prepared baking tin and level out surface using table knife. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

 

Step-8
When cake is done, allow it to cool on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes in the cake tin.

 

Step-9
Allow cake to cool for a further 20 or so minutes out of the tin before attempting to cut it. If you don’t give it time to cool it will crumble and break up.

 

Great with a cup of tea...in these rainy days.
Great with a cup of tea…in these rainy Harare days.

You may then dust some icing sugar over your cake using a sieve or just have it the way it is. Let me know how it goes when you try it. Come along on my mailing list by signing-up here so you can get new recipe alerts by email.