Plain cake


Plain cake
This is a classic, loaf-shaped cake, deliberately left plain for you to embellish as you choose.
93 K 3.5/5 (19 reviews)
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Last modified on: December 30th 2019
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For 1 cake, you will need:

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Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
Resting: 30 min.
Cooking: 35 min.
All in all: 1 hour 30 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 4 min.
Plain cake : Stage 1

Allow ingredients to come to room temperature


Take the butter out of the fridge at least 1 hour beforehand.

Break the eggs then weigh 125 g butter carefully; this is important for the rest of the recipe. Put into a bowl and leave at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Stage 2 - 3 min.
Plain cake : Stage 2

Make the cake batter


Put into a food-mixer bowl: 125 g butter (cut into small pieces), 110 g caster sugar and 15 g vanilla sugar.

Stage 3 - 5 min.
Plain cake : Stage 3
Start beating and mix the sugar and butter thoroughly.

Stage 4 - 3 min.
Plain cake : Stage 4
Add the eggs one at a time...

Stage 5 - 2 min.
Plain cake : Stage 5
...and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Important: If the mixture begins to curdle, stop beating and plunge the bowl into a pan of hot water, beating with a hand whisk until the mixture homogenizes (normally about 1 minute).

Stage 6 - 2 min.
Plain cake : Stage 6
Sieve 160 g flour and 10 g baking powder together.

Stage 7 - 30 min.
Plain cake : Stage 7
Mix into the batter with whisk.

Refrigerate the batter for 30 minutes.

Stage 8 - 2 min.
Plain cake : Stage 8

Bake the cake


Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).

Pour the batter into the mould or tin.

Note: As always with cakes, if you want a nice opening on top when baking, try this very effective trick.

Stage 9 - 35 min.
Plain cake : Stage 9
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Test the centre of the cake to check that it is cooked .
Remarks
If you want to include dry fruit, chocolate chips, etc., add these at stage 6, mixed with the flour.
Keeping: Several days.
Source: Based on recipe by Gaston Lenôtre.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe30 RDI=10 %310 RDI=30 %120 RDI=20 %2,220 RDI=110 %9,290 RDI: 110 %
Per 100 g5 RDI=2 %50 RDI=5 %20 RDI=3 %390 RDI=20 %1,630 RDI: 20 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman
Possible allergens in this recipe: egg, milk, Gluten
How much will it cost?
  • For 1 cake : 2.10 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
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