Traditional Vanilla Cake

Baking cakes on family occasions has been an old tradition. What goes into the oven are a few common ingredients, but what comes out is the aroma and taste of eternal love and emotions!! Be it simple or lavish, baking a cake is always a wonderful experience for the entire family. And there are times when, "Simplicity is the best virtue" makes a lot of sense, as in this case. That's how birthdays, christmas, thanksgiving, graduation parties or anniversaries are always cherished alongwith sweet memories of a freshly baked home-made cake!! (Dig out your old pictures and see how many of then have a cake in it!) So here's my very simple recipe for the traditional Vanilla Cake. I always associate this with my brother, because he has baked many such cakes for me since childhood:) (image courtesy noshteria.com)

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour (maida)
2 cups unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (powdered)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup plain milk
2 tsp baking powder
2-3 eggs
1 tsp salt

Method
Heat the oven to 400° F. Lightly coat a cake pan with butter and dust with all-purpose flour. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Beat in the butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Beat the eggs and pour them into the butter and sugar mixture and mix everything well together.Using an electric mixer set on low speed, add flour slowly to this mix and beat the mixture until it is smooth and you see sharp peaks form in the mixture. If you are using a large spoon and your hand to beat this, make sure you are always stirring in the SAME direction (clockwise or anticlockwise).

Finally add the vanilla essence and milk and blend everything together. Do not over beat. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 mins, or until the edges have separated from the sides of the mould and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool (about 15 mins) before trying to remove it from the mould or cut into slices.

There are a million things that can go with this Vanilla Cake like ice-cream, chocolate sauce, fruit syrups, puddings, whip cream or more. But most of the times I prefer it alone, just the way it is! Simple, pure and divine!! Make any memory a sweet one with this simple home-made cake; you don't even need to be an expert cook for this!!