This is a recipe for the novice bakers out there. I’ve called it the “packet mix” cake because you get exactly the same result as if you were to use a basic butter cake packet mix.
Great for making kids’ novelty birthday cakes or to throw in the oven for a quick activity/afternoon tea for the little ones.
I make it in my stand mixer but you can use hand held beaters and failing that- go hard yakka with your wooden spoon.
Decorate away.
basic “packet mix” butter cake
I make this cake in either a 20cm round cake tin or in this shallow slice tin. Decorate with buttercream icing and decorate with whatever your heart desires. (Buttercream icing recipe below*).
125 grams of softened butter (at room temperature so that it’s “squigy”)
1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of castor sugar
2 x eggs
1 1/2 cups of self raising flour
1/3 cup of milk
- Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (mine is fan forced) and grease and line a cake tin.
- Add the butter and vanilla to a stand mixer and mix over a med-high speed for a couple of minutes before gradually adding the sugar, a little at a time until it’s pale and creamy (scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as you go).
- Add the eggs, one at a time mixing on a slow speed until just incorporated. Don’t over mix here.
- Now keeping the mixer very low, sift in half of the flour and half of the milk, let it come together before adding the rest. The mixture is ready once it’s become nice and smooth.
- Scrape into the prepared tin and bake. It’s hard to say how long it will take as it will depend on the size of the cake tin you’re using. This sheet cake pictured only takes about 20 minutes but it takes longer in the round tin. Keep an eye on it and the cake is cooked once slightly browned on top and springy to touch.
- Turn cake on to a wire rack to cool completely before icing with buttercream icing.
- *To make the buttercream: Add 125 grams of softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until as white as possible. Add 1 1/2 cups of sifted icing sugar mixture and 2 tablespoons of milk, alternating between the two until it’s all incorporated. Mix until smooth and until you have a nice “spreadable” consistency (scraping down the bowl as you go). Tint with your preferred food colouring.
Happy cooking! x
lo's kitchen 