This is a really easy Christmas cake recipe. The fruit and other ingredients are boiled together first which means that the finished fruit cake is very moist and there is no arm-aching creaming together of sugar and fat. To finish the cake an easy lemon white icing is used. The sharpness of the lemon balances the sweetness of the cake nicely. Why not try it? It really is an easy homemade cake that makes a nice fuit cake to eat any time of the year.

Ingredients

1500 g…3 lb 5 oz of mixed dried fruit
(Buy it mixed or mix your own with sultanas, currants, cherries, raisins, apricots, dates, etc)
6 tbsp brandy, or similar if you prefer a different spirit
250 g…9 oz butter or margarine, chopped into chunks
400 g…14 oz dark brown sugar, Muscovado is ideal
5 medium eggs, beaten
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp black treacle, or molasses
375 g…13 oz plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
250 g…9 oz chopped mixed nuts
50 g…2 oz ground almonds

For the icing (frosting):

435 g…16 oz icing sugar
1 egg white, or equivalent water/gelatin mix
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 tsp vanilla essence
Holly leaves (washed) to decorate

One greased, deep 20cm/8in cake tin, double lined wih waxed or greaseproof paper.

Preheat the oven to 150 deg C, 300 deg F, Gas Mark 2.

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Start the easy Christmas cake recipe by placing the dried fruit along with the butter or margarine, sugar, molasses, brandy, orange rind and orange juice in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil gently and the leave to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down.

When cool, add the chopped nuts, beaten eggs and ground almonds and stir thoroughly.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and spice together and then stir gently into the mix until completely blended.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin, roughly level the top and place in the centre of the preheated oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour turn the oven down to 140 deg C, 275 deg F, Gas Mark 1 and continue to bake for about 2 1/4 hours.

If the top of the cake is browning too much and drying out, cover it with a layer of foil or greaseproof paper for protection. Test to see if a skewer, or similar, comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the cake. If not test again after 10-15 minutes.

Remove the fruit cake from the oven when cooked and allow to cool in the tin on a wire rack. To store, turn out of the tin, wrap in foil and/or greaseproof/waxed paper and store in an airtight container until time to decorate.

Open from time to time and drizzle with a little brandy for a realy delicious cake!

For decorating – beat together the icing sugar, lemon juice, egg white and vanilla essence in a bowl. If you prefer not to eat raw egg, substitute a few tablespoons of water/gelatin instead. When the icing mix is smooth and well blended, roughly spread it over the cake using a knife, before using a fork to rough it up into an attractive pattern. Finish by decorating with the holly leaves, or any other Christmas cake decorations.

Share this easy Christmas cake recipe with friends and then you’ll have even more to eat yourself. Only joking – share the homemade cake as well, not just the recipe!

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This easy chocolate cake recipe is based on a very easy sponge cake. It produces a very nice cake with only a few minutes preparation and should work for you even if you’ve never made a cake before in your life. Why not have a go at making this easy chocolate cake and impress your friends and family.

Easy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

4 oz…110g self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
4 oz…110g soft margarine at room temperature
4 oz…110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbs cocoa powder

For the filling

2 oz…55g butter or quality margarine
4 oz…110g icing/confectioners’ sugar
1 rounded tbs cocoa powder
A little milk (approx 2 teaspoons)

Two 7 in (18cm) cake tins, at least 1.5in (4cm) deep, greased and bases lined with greaseproof/waxed paper

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Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3, 170 deg C, 325 deg F.

This is a really easy chocolate cake to make. Sift the baking powder and flour into a large mixing bowl. Next, make sure the margarine is soft, then simply add all the other ingredients to the bowl and beat them well until everything is thoroughly mixed together. An electric hand mixer will give better results. The mixture should just drop off a wooden spoon when tapped on the side of the bowl, so if needed mix in 1-2 teaspoons of warm water to get the right consistency.

Put half the mixture in each of the prepared tins and place on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for about thirty minutes. The top of the sponge should be springy to the touch when cooked.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. Put the margarine, sieved icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix it together with a little milk until it’s very smooth.

When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for about a minute. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn the sponges out onto a wire rack to cool. Carefully remove the lining paper and when completely cool spread the filling onto one sponge and sandwich together. To finish, dust the top with icing/confectioners’ sugar if you like.

Stand back and admire your easy chocolate cake masterpiece!

This lemon cake recipe is ideal for those who don’t like their homemade cakes too sweet. Adding a little juice and grated rind from a lemon (or orange if you prefer) just takes the edge off the sweetness. It gives the cake that little bit of “sparkle” that will leave you wanting more. A lemon cake recipe is ideal for a homemade birthday cake where all that decoration can make the cake very sweet. Enjoy!

Easy Lemon Cake

Ingredients

4 oz…110g self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
4 oz…110g soft margarine at room temperature
4 oz…110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
Grated rind of a medium lemon
3 tsps of lemon juice

To finish:

Icing/confectioners’ sugar, lemon curd

Two 7 in (18cm) cake tins, at least 1.5in (4cm) deep, greased and bases lined with greaseproof/waxed paper

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Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3, 170 deg C, 325 deg F.

This easy lemon cake recipe only takes a few minutes to mix. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Next, making sure you use soft margarine, simply add all the other ingredients to the bowl and beat them well. A hand-held electric mixer will give good results. The mixture should be wet enough to just drop from a wooden spoon when tapped on the side of the mixing bowl. If needed mix in 1-2 teaspoons of warm water to get the right consistency.

The mixture is divided between the prepared (greased and lined) tins. Bake on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for about thirty minutes, or until the top of the sponge is springy to touch.

Remove from the oven when cooked and allow to cool for about a minute. Carefully loosen the edges with a knife and turn the sponges onto a wire rack to cool. Gently, remove the lining paper and when cooled completely, spread lemon curd on the sponges and sandwich together. To finish, dust the top with icing (confectioners’) sugar if you like.

Easy cake recipes are ideal for busy parents who still want to treat their children to homemade cakes but struggle to find the time. Many of the other recipes on this site are easy but to save searching around for easy cake recipes it seems like a good idea to pull them altogether in one place.

More links to easy recipes at the foot of the page – these are variations on the easy sponge cake where all the ingredients are mixed together in a bowl, split between two tins and baked – it really couldn’t be easier!

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Easy Sponge Cake Recipe

Ingredients

4 oz…110g self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
4 oz…110g soft margarine at room temperature
4 oz…110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
2-3 drops vanilla essence

To finish:

Icing/confectioners’ sugar, jam

Two 7 in (18cm) cake tins, at least 1.5in (4cm) deep, greased and bases lined with greaseproof/waxed paper

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Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3, 170 deg C, 325 deg F.

This is a really easy cake recipe. Sift the baking powder and flour into a large mixing bowl. Next, make sure the margarine is soft, then simply add all the other ingredients to the bowl and beat them well until everything is thoroughly mixed together. An electric mixer will give better results. The mixture should just drop from a wooden spoon when tapped on the side of the bowl, so if needed mix in 1-2 teaspoons of warm water to get the right consistency.

Divide the mixture between each of the lined and greased tins and place on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for about thirty minutes. When cooked, the top of the sponge should be springy to the touch.

Remove from the oven when cooked and allow to cool for about a minute. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn the sponges out onto a wire rack to cool. Carefully remove the lining paper and when completely cool spread your favourite jam on the sponge and sandwich together. To finish, dust the top with icing/confectioners’ sugar if you like.

Here is a simple sponge cake recipe for you to enjoy.

Cakes like these are so versatile – you can make the basic sponge layers and freeze them until needed. Then choose your filling and topping and make a different cake every time.

No prizes for guessing that the Victoria sponge was named after Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a piece of plain sponge cake with her afternoon tea. The traditional Victoria sponge consists of jam and whipped cream sandwiched between two sponge layers, and the top of the cake is not iced or decorated, but many cooks like to finish the cake with a little sugar or icing.

So, enough of the history, let’s start the simple simple sponge cake recipes with this classic for a Victoria Sponge made the conventional way by creaming butter and sugar together, adding the eggs and then the flour and salt.

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Victoria Sponge

Metric/Imperial Ingredients

225g/8oz butter or margarine
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 eggs beaten
225g/8oz self raising flour
Pinch of salt
3 15ml spoons/3 tbs warm water

American Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
4 eggs beaten
2 cups flour sifted with 2 tsps baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 tbs warm water

Cream the butter/margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy, and then slowly beat in the eggs. Sift the flour and salt together and fold gently into the egg mixture. Sufficient warm water can be added to make the mixture just drop from a spoon.

Prepare two 8in/ 20cm cake tins (layer pans) by greasing and lining with paper before pouring half the mixture into each tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven at Gas 5, 190 deg C, 375 deg F until golden and risen. When cooked, turm out of the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Sandwich the layers together with jam or buttercream. Sprinkle the top with icing (confectioners’) sugar, or drizzle with glace icing and serve with an excellent cup of tea or coffee.