Baking Cakes on a Budget

Fredula

I've been thinking for a while about baking a loaf cake which hubby, toddler and I can have a slice of each day for work (toddlers pudding), but when I look in all my recipe books, the starting stuff just costs so much! Nuts, chocolate, etc.

I have bought 1.5kg SR flour, I already have plain flour and baking powder (not sure I have bicarb) - the eggs and butter I buy every week anyway, but I'm not sure if it will just increase spends.

How do you guys manage it? I'd like to incorporate fruit and bits into the loaf cakes as kiddywink is fussy with fruit/wet things. Anyone have any recipes which may be a good idea?

RAS

You need the same weights of flour, fat, eggs and sugar. Margarine can be cheaper than butter (buy the block Stork and similar) for a beaten cake.

Regarding flavouring have you considered a mashed banana?

littlegreenparrot

Don't get to hung up on the recipes. Start with a basic cake recipe, I use Nigella's blueberry muffin one, and just put in what ever you have.


Mine usually includes some slightly past it's best fruit. For example, this weeks will have grated apple, some crushed up plain chocolate that (a gift that's to bitter to just eat) and some cinnamon. Last weeks was glace cherries and coconut, both of which have been in the cupboard so long they are several years out of date!


I find it saves me money - I havn't done the maths for how much it is per batch. But if I don't take something like that, I'll end up buying something - which is bound to be more!

LV_Sue

This is my standby fruit loaf cake. A big hit with my family & friends.

Soak 8oz mixed dried fruit (or whatever is cheapest) in a mugful of hot tea (no milk or sugar!;)) overnight or for at least 4 hours.
Mix 8oz SR flour with half teaspoon mixed spice and 4oz sugar (soft brown is best, but granulated will do if you haven't got any). Pour in fruit & tea and 1 beaten egg and mix well. Mixture should easily gloop off spoon but if it seems too dry add a little milk. Put in loaf tin at Gas 4, 180*C/170*C fan for about an hour. Leave to cool in tin then store in airtight container/tin. A slice is lovely on it's own, but even better spread with butter .

patchwork_cat

Weetabix cake? http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=215590 About 70p give or take.

Ladyluck1

A plain sponge in loaf tin then sliced and spread like a Victoria cake sandwich? Only need jam and icing sugar if you have butter already
Buttercream will keep in the fridge too!
Could spread with jam and mashed banana for toddler.

tiger_eyes

The startup cost of baking your own stuff will be relatively high, but it shouldn't cost much to keep your baking stores ticking over. I have no shame about buying cheap value flour for pennies! Happy baking!

flea72

Its not cheaper to bake a cake yourself, if your comparrison is the £1 sponges you can get in most supermarkets. However tastewise, homemade is more comparable with luxury cakes, so sponges that cost nearer the £5 mark

I agree, when you price up the ingredients for an 8" victoria sponge, its pricey, as eggs arent cheap, nor is icing sugar. So i find it cheaper to bake things that dont need icing, or too many eggs, like flapjacks, rocky road, refridgerator cake, shortbread, coconut haystacks, jam tarts, cornflake cake etc. still get that sweet cake hit, but at a fraction of the cost

PlymouthMaid

Basic cake as said above isn't that dear but way nicer and probably healthier than shop cake. I have been doing lemon cake a lot lately using Tana Ramsay's recipe which you can Google. It is lovely and very easy. Keeps fine for the few days it lives in my house. I also make flapjacks a fair bit. I don't buy butter just olive spread.

parkgirl

I tend to make any cake in a square, traybake tin and then ice it or whatever. You can get loads of slices out of it (dependent upon how big you cut your slices). I confess, a lot of cakes that I bake for home are quite plain - chocolate, coffee or vanilla sponge - with a bit of icing or chocolate on the top. I also like the Bero boiled fruit cake and shortbread, flapjacks and biscuits

bylromarha

Silly question I'm sure, but you are sourcing the ingredients in places like Aldi/Lidl/Home Bargains aren't you?

99p for 6 free range eggs round here.