Plain cake
This is a classic, loaf-shaped cake, deliberately left plain for you to embellish as you choose.
81 K 3.5/5 (19 reviews)
1 hour 30 min.
Easy
2 cakes
6 IngredientsLast modified on: December 30th 2019
For 2 cakes, you will need:
- 1
300 g egg ( How to... ) - 2
250 g butter - 3
220 g caster sugar - 4
30 g vanilla sugar - 5
320 g flour - 6
20 g baking powder - Total weight: 1,140 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 250 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: 250 g butter (cut into small pieces), 220 g caster sugar and 30 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 320 g flour and 20 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 | 70 RDI=30 % | 610 RDI=60 % | 240 RDI=40 % | 4,440 RDI=220 % | 18,590 RDI: 220 % |
| Per 100 g | 5 RDI=2 % | 50 RDI=5 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 390 RDI=20 % | 1,630 RDI: 20 % |
| Per cake | 30 RDI=10 % | 310 RDI=30 % | 120 RDI=20 % | 2,220 RDI=110 % | 9,290 RDI: 110 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 2 cakes : 4.15 €
- Per 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: "Moelleux" cake batter, Buckwheat almond biscuits, Sauce Normande (for fish), Breton sablé biscuit dough, Grandma Solange's biscuits, ... See them all 199
Butter
Like these other recipes: Turnip and Jerusalem artichoke soup, Jam doughnuts, Tarte à l'coloche, Potato and broccoli gratin, Boulangère potatoes, ... See them all 461
Caster sugar
Like these other recipes: Apple charlotte with toasted brioche, Butter cream, Fraisier (French strawberry cake), Shortbread tart with sweet apricots and rosemary, Cottage cheese tart, ... See them all 357
Other recipes you may also like
Exotic fruit tart
An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests.May 27th 2020320 K5 2 hours 25 min.
European glass
A little dessert that's rather long to make, but which will always impress your guests. Layered in a glass: a jellied red fruit coulis, a layer of pineapple charlotte cream, a layer of kiwi coulis, topped with a peeled clementine segment. It's "european" because it resembles the italian flag, and in...August 15th 2010232 K5 2 hours 30 min.
Bouquet garni
Used very frequently in French cuisine, a secret of French chefs, it adds flavour to a lot of recipes, and it's easy to prepare. The basic principle is to make a small bundle of herbs, bind them in green leek leaves and to tie it up, so that the whole thing can be removed and discarded easily after...March 21th 2017416 K3.5 15 min.
Herb olive oil
This flavoured olive oil, easy to prepare, goes very well with Mediterranean cuisine: pizzas, pastas, pan bagnat, etc...February 21th 2011308 K3.8 25 min.
Breton galettes (pancakes)
Of uniquely Breton origin, this is a buckwheat pancake on which you cook an egg with ham and cheese before folding it over. Easy and quick to make, it's an ideal answer to the question "what are we going to eat this evening?".February 21th 2011219 K 23.9 20 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-04-06)
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.