Basic Eggless Sponge Loaf Cake

There are times when you want to bake just because it makes you feel good, and there are times when you want to bake just so you can feel good. You get the difference? I sure as shooting hope that you do, ‘cos its rather important to be able to tell the difference, else you wouldn’t understand me. This was a time when I wanted to bake something just because it would make me feel good on a lonely and boring Saturday afternoon. The hubby was out for lunch at some official party, and me, the bored wife was home alone, twiddling thumbs and wondering how I could while-away the afternoon that lay before me. And then, with a twinkle in my eyes, I thought – “What else other than baking would make me feel good?” Baking being my BFF, I knew it wouldn’t let me down whatsoever. Yeah, that was it…I was gonna bake something alright, but at the same time, I didn’t want to slog too much either. I am like that sometimes you know, just plain lazy, wanting to have my cake and eat it too (pun intended)!! So I set out to make the simplest cake ever, from one of my Nita Mehta cookbooks. You have to make it yourself to be able to take my word for this being the simplest cake ever. I did modify the amount of sugar that went in b’cos I thought the original called for too much. The cake tasted just fine, so I’m putting down the recipe with my proportion for the sugar.

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour/Maida – 1 1/2 cups
• Sugar – 3/4 cup (The original called for 1 cup)
• Baking powder – 1 1/4 tsps
• Baking soda – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – a pinch
• Thick curd – 1 cup
• Cooking oil – 1/2 cup (I used Rice Bran)
• Vanilla essence – 2 tsps

Procedure:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F. Grease a standard-sized loaf-pan (7″ x 4″) or a 7-inch round pan and set aside.
• In a bowl, mix the curd and sugar till the sugar dissolves completely. To ease the process, you could powder the sugar once you have it measured, and then stir in with the curd.
• Once done, stir-in the baking powder and baking soda into the curd mixture. Mix well and set aside for 2-3 minutes. The curd will turn frothy and start rising and increasing in volume.
• In the meanwhile, sieve the flour thrice and set aside.
• Add the oil and vanilla essence to the curd mixture. Stir gently so that the air in the mixture is not lost.
• Next, gently fold in the flour. Dont stir very vigorously; ‘gentle’ is the mantra. The batter should have a lovely dropping consistency. At this stage, I couldn’t help dipping a finger into the batter and licking it up. You should do it too!
• Pour the batter into the readied loaf-pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.
• Lower the temperature to 180C/350F, and bake for another 35-40 minutes. (It took exactly 35 minutes in mine).
• Remove the loaf-pan from the oven, do the toothpick test to test doneness.
• Once it is done, though you’re raring to let the cake cool and dig into it, do one last thing, and you’ll thank me for this – Using a pastry brush, gently brush the top of the loaf with milk and stick it back in the oven for 2 minutes at 200C/400F. This is what gives the loaf that wonderful glazed finish on top. See that glazed finish in the pictures? Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. I love the glaze and the browned top. Trust me, the crumbs around there are just out of this world!
• Once done, remove from oven and let the tin cool on a wire-rack for 10 minutes. Upturn the loaf from the tin and let it cool on the wire-rack for a good amount of time before you can slice it.
• Once fully cooled, slice the bread with a bread knife/serrated knife and get down to attacking it!

What’s best is that you cannot taste the curd! You will most certainly love this cake in terms of simplicity in making, and taste too. So don’t think too much, run into your kitchen right away and make yourself one of these, ‘cos it pairs perfectly well with your afternoon cuppa. I’ve given you the perfect excuse now…so GO! Don’t forget to come back and let me know how you liked it. Run along now 🙂