Plain cake


Plain cake
This is a classic, loaf-shaped cake, deliberately left plain for you to embellish as you choose.
94 K 3.5/5 (19 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: December 30th 2019
For this recipe: Comment Send to a friend Ask me a question Follow Printable Diaporama Video
For 1 cake, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
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 €

Change currency:

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)
Other recipes you may also like
Express apple tart
Express apple tart
A fine apple tart, very quick to make.
April 8th 2020381 K 24.6 55 min.
Financiers
Financiers
This delicious little cake gets its name from its shape, in the form of a gold ingot.
April 14th 2020346 K 24.6 20 min.
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Home-made terrine of foie gras
Preparing your own home-made foie gras from raw is immensively satisfying: good quality liver and a simply amazing flavour – much better than anything you can buy. This recipe is a bit tricky, but quite within everyone's grasp, as long as you follow the 3 most delicate stages carefully. These are, in order: de-veining the liver, seasoning and cooking. As usual, I have explained every stage of the recipe in full, with photos to help you.
December 16th 20245.28 M 64.2 4 days 15 hours 50 min.
Foie gras cured in salt
Foie gras cured in salt
This a quite different preparation from the terrine of foie gras, this time it does not go in the oven, the liver is salted for 48 hours and it "cooks" (or cures) in this way.
December 23th 2017577 K5 2 days 16 hours 30 min.
Natural leaven
Natural leaven
Leaven is a natural raising agent, a fermented mixture of water, flour and the microscopic yeasts which are present in the air. It's a delicate living substance, sensitive to the external environment. The recipe is around 4000 years old and dates back to the Egypt of the Pharaohs, via a beautiful history...(note: the ancient Egyptians seem not to have had exclusive knowledge of the process: in Germany evidence of cooking a fermented dough has been found from 8000 BC (the Neolithic era). The...
April 3rd 20201.73 M 304.0 7 days 15 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-11-23)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page