My mom’s breadmaker is suitable for cakes but I don’t have many recipes for it. Can somebody help me with some easy recipes for a breadmaking machine – preferably a rich fruit cake recipe.

Does anyone have a very quick and easy (seriously lacking in most utensils or cooking ability) chocolate cake recipe that doesn’t use any eggs? Many thanks in advance:)

I am looking for a very moist but delicious chocolate cake recipe. Does anyone know any great ones?

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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A rich moist chocolate cake recipe

produces a cake that will be enjoyed by everybody as one of the ultimate comfort foods. Chocolate cakes come in all shapes and sizes but never fail to satisfy when a little indulgence is needed. I haven’t tried all the recipes yet but it’s my ambition to do so. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it!!

Meanwhile, here’s a fairly standard moist chocolate cake recipe that produces a nice cake which everybody should enjoy. The ingredients are in both metric and imperial, but don’t mix them – use one or the other or this moist chocolate cake recipe may be a disaster!

Metric Ingredients

275g soft brown sugar
25g cocoa powder

225g flour
2 x 5m spoons baking powder
1 x 2.5 ml spoon bicarbonate of soda
1 x 2.5 ml spoon salt
100 g butter/margarine
1 x 5 ml spoon vanilla essence
2 eggs – separated
150 ml sour cream

Icing:

100 g softened butter/margarine
225 g icing sugar
100 g plain chocolate pieces
1 x 15 ml spoon milk
25 g chopped nuts

Imperial Ingredients

10 oz soft brown sugar
1 oz cocoa powder
3 fl oz water
8 oz flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz butter/margarine
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs – separated
1/4 pint sour cream

Icing:

4 oz softened butter/margarine
8 oz icing sugar
4 ozplain chocolate pieces
1 tbs spoon milk
1 oz chopped nuts

Heat the oven to 180 deg C, 350 deg F, Gas Mark 4.

Put the water, cocoa powder and 3oz/75g of the sugar in a pan, stir and heat gently until simmering. After a few minutes remove the smooth mixture from the heat and allow to cool down.

Place the all the dry ingredients in a suitable bowl and sift in the flour. In another bowl gently cream together the butter/margarine and the rest of the sugar until fluffy before adding the egg yolks and vanilla essence. Continue beating unti light. Add the cooled cocoa mixture, then fold in the dry ingredients and sour cream a little at a time.

Finally, beat the egg whites until stiff, and fold gently into the cake mixture to achieve a uniform mixture.

Grease a deep 7 in/17.5 cm round baking tin, pour the cake mixture in and transfer to the pre-heated oven.

Follow this moist chocolate cake recipe accurately and typically the cake will take about 1 1/4 hours to bake but as always, ovens vary and the cake should be tested. It is cooked When a skewer or cocktail stick comes out of the cake clean.

Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before carefully removing from the tin and returning to the rack to allow it to cool completely.

For the icing, use an electric or hand whisk to beat the butter/margarine until fluffy and light. Continue beating gently while adding the icing sugar until well mixed.

Melt the chocolate with the milk in a bowl over a pan of hot water. When conpletely melted add it to the creamed butter and sugar mix and blend gently together.

Split the cake horizontally into two layers and spread about two-thirds of the icing onto the bottom layer.

Stack the top layer back on the cake and spread the top of the cake with the remaining icing.

Sprinkle with the chopped nuts to finish, and find some friends to congratulate you on finding a moist chocolate cake recipe, and to share the homemade cake with!