Plain cake
This is a classic, loaf-shaped cake, deliberately left plain for you to embellish as you choose.
88 K 3.5/5 (19 reviews)
1 hour 30 min.
Easy
1 cake
6 IngredientsLast modified on: December 30th 2019
For 1 cake, you will need:
- 1
150 g egg ( How to... ) - 2
125 g butter - 3
110 g caster sugar - 4
15 g vanilla sugar - 5
160 g flour - 6
10 g baking powder - Total weight: 570 grams
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
Resting: 30 min.
Cooking: 35 min.
All in all: 1 hour 30 min.
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.
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.
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.
Start beating and mix the sugar and butter thoroughly.
Stage 4 - 3 min.
Add the eggs one at a time...
Stage 5 - 2 min.
...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).
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.
Sieve 160 g flour and 10 g baking powder together.
Stage 7 - 30 min.
Stage 8 - 2 min.
Bake the cake
Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
Pour the batter into the mould or tin.
Stage 9 - 35 min.
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 recipe | 30 RDI=10 % | 310 RDI=30 % | 120 RDI=20 % | 2,220 RDI=110 % | 9,290 RDI: 110 % |
| Per 100 g | 5 RDI=2 % | 50 RDI=5 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 390 RDI=20 % | 1,630 RDI: 20 % |
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)
Flour
Like these other recipes: Dipping bread with cheese, Sesame cookies, Lobster Thermidor, Tomato foccacia, Gingerbread, ... See them all 203
Egg
Like these other recipes: Lime (or lemon) curd, Cashew-nut and Parmesan biscuits, Dipping bread with cheese, Tomato omelette, Ardéchois, ... See them all 237
Butter
Like these other recipes: Spinach on toast with bechamel, Roasted cauliflower, Butter cream, Sauce Normande (for fish), Du Barry soup, ... See them all 475
Caster sugar
Like these other recipes: Ciabatta, Cranachan, Sicilian Epiphany Pie, Coconut-vanilla cream for Elsa , Home-made terrine of foie gras, ... See them all 361
Other recipes you may also like
Chocolate muffins
Variation on muffins recipe. In this version each one is filled with a dark chocolate ganache.February 21th 2011319 K4.3 1 hour 15 min.
French custard tart
Custard pie is made with a shortcrust pastry base, and filled with an egg vanilla "custard" mix (prepared beforehand). Filling and pastry cook together in the oven. It's a great classic of the French bakery, found in all good shops.July 13th 2022450 K 234.3 1 hour 10 min.
Chorba
Chorba is a spicy meat and vegetable soup, typical of the Maghreb. This is my own personal version.May 4th 2012153 K5 2 hours 8 min.
Purple artichokes braised in white wine
In this recipe, small purple artichokes are trimmed and braised (i.e. simmered gently in a small quantity of liquid) in white wine.June 29th 201479 K4.3 40 min.
Mixed salad stack
A stack ("pressé" in French) can be made of sliced vegetables or other ingredients piled up and pressed in a ring mould to keep them in shape. The ring is removed before serving. This stack consists of tomato, avocado, red onion, hard-boiled egg and anchovy fillets. Serve surrounded with with a...November 25th 201570 K5 30 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-08-31)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
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.
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.