Baking Cakes on a Budget

taffy1969

I made LV Sue's fruit cake today. DD2 loved it, DH said not much taste (He obviously is James Martin and Gordon Ramsey rolled into one!!!) Taking some to dad tomorrow along with a piece of the Browned Butter and Cinnamon cake I made today too. James Gordon said that one was 'alright!!!' DD2 absolutely loved it as it had cinnamon in the cake, frosting and dusted on top, her favourite!!!! Sadly I don't think it's very 'budget' but will work it out. As long as DD2/DD1 and mum and dad like my cakes I'm happy!!!!! Thanks LV Sue, that is a very easy cake to make and my mum said she used to make fruit cakes like that when we were tiny xx

taffy1969

ALso, I made this in a 1lb tin. I got my tins from 99p shop along with liners which were 25 for 99p xx

applepad

I have a tray bake tin, would this take up the same amount of mixture as a standard Victoria sponge mix?

Same for a 1lb loaf tin?

Thanks

LV_Sue

To compare sizes and different shapes of tins fill one that you know how much mixture it takes with water and pour into the other size/shaped tins. That will give you the volume of cake mix you need for each shape/size compared with a standard cake tin.

Hope that makes sense!:)

Willowpop

grumswifie wrote: »

Mine is the easiest of them all.....

1 cup of currants
1 cup of fresh hot tea
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of self raising flour

Soak currantsdin the hot tea for an hour or so. Mix everything together pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake for 55mins at 180c.
Perfect. Sliced with butter, food for the sole

Thanks so much for this, my mum used to make this for me when I was a kid but she lost the recipe…now I can make it for my DD. :T:T

Bublin1

Silly question but how can I know how many pounds my loaf tin is? I've dug one out from the depths of my cupboard.
I can tell you it takes 1 litre of water.

Pollybear

Bublin, I've just tried 1 litre of water in my loaf tins. It fits easily into the 2lb tin (about half an inch left at the top) but doesn't fit into the 1lb size - so I think yours must be the 2lb size.

Bublin1

Thank you Pollybear for taking the time out to do that.

gemnomnom

RAS wrote: »

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?

Mashed banana or apple compote can also work as a binder in cakes. To make it rise use bi carb soda & vinegar. For a truly vegan and cheap delight, sub the milk with water or soya milk and the butter for veg oil or vegan spread (though the latter is not cheap).

I have made many a paupers cake using those ingredients above. Tinned pineapple, where the water and sugar can be subbed out for the pineapple juice in the can, makes a nice cake.

http://vegweb.com/recipes/pineapple-upside-down-cake

lizalloareds

LV_Sue wrote: »

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 .

thanks, made it today turned out lovely