What are the simplest cakes for beginners to make?

[Winterybella]

While I am not a beginner in the true sense of the word, I know my baking skills now have to be honed where I can progress to the point where I can offer to bake a cake from scratch and donate to an event. With that in mind, I am happy if any of you can offer me some tips for some simple cake recipes.

As a "beginner" I believe it's important to take those baby steps before you can run.

Thank you in advance for your guidance.

 

[Trellum]

Well, for me the most simple cake ever is the carrot one, but when making cakes you need to be careful with the amount of oil you use. If you use too much your cake will be too oily. It's all about the balance. Also be careful when you add fruit to a cake mix, specially if making carrot cake. I love roasting the pecans with some sugar before adding them to my carrot mix cake

 

[Winterybella]

Well I have a carrot mix box cake in the cupboard but no pecans on hand. There are so expensive and sometimes hard to find here. I will make a special effort to find some when I am out and about. I know they won't be found in the smaller supermarkets.

Once I find them I can then present my "from scratch" carrot cake. I suspect I am going to have some issues with all these goodies and my weight!

 

[ACSAPA]

If you're trying to make a cake for an event, this is a ridiculously easy vanilla sheet cake with very few ingredients. As long as you follow the directions in the recipe, it'll turn out fine.

http://www.eatcakefordinner.net/2012/04/grannys-white-sheet-cake.html

 

[Winterybella]

Thank you ACSAPA. This looks " ridiculously easy" as you stated and those two words suit me just fine. When it comes to my cooking, I have big problems sticking to the the recipe. I like to substitute here, add there and all that crazy stuff.

I'll try not to do that here with the baking . Perhaps that's where I went wrong with some of the "from scratch" baking. I feel like I can try this from as soon as this weekend as I have all the ingredients excluding the pecans.

 

[JessiFox]

I know this might not *sound* like the simplest thing out there, but I think pineapple upside down cakes are pretty easy and impressive for the (relatively) small amount of work they take . Here's one recipe that I like for them:

The recipes starts out like your standard pineapple upside-down cake recipe. Melt some butter, pour it into your pan, top with a sprinkle of brown sugar, pineapple slices, and maraschino cherries. I like to use a ton of cherries. Just dot them wherever you see an empty space between all the pineapple rings. You may use fresh or canned pineapples. Canned are easiest (and cheapest!).

This buttery, pineapple mixture will create the brown-sugared juicy topping to your cake when you flip it upside down before serving. It’s the best part of the entire cake, trust me. Not to mention – it’s pretty.

Top the pineapples with your vanilla cake batter. I used more brown sugar and less white sugar with this particular cake. I typically do 1/4 cup brown to 3/4 cup white. But since I love the combination of brown sugar and pineapple, I reversed those ratios to 3/4 cup brown and 1/4 cup white.

Bake the cake until it’s beautifully golden on top. This cake is extra moist, so it will take a little longer than my usual vanilla cake recipe to bake. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40+ minutes. Mine took 41 minutes exactly.

As the cake bakes, the buttery brown sugar sauce will bubble up the sides, creating a buttery glaze on all sides of the cake. It’s absolutely the best part!

Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. Then invert the cake onto your cake stand or a large serving plate. Watch the bubbly, brown sugar sauce drip down the sides. & enjoy .

 

[Winterybella]

JessiFox, your are right. When I saw the post I got scared. Then you said pineapple upside down cake and my head started to spin. Not literally. I have always loved a slice of pineapple up side down cake, but never thought it would be something that I would be making anytime soon.

Anyway, if you think it is as easy as that, maybe it is something worth trying. I should not sell myself short like that. Thank you JessiFox.

 

[JessiFox]

I understand...I tend to get intimidated initially but like you said, why sell yourself short? Once you try it once or twice and see it's not so bad it's nice to have another recipe under your belt, and who doesn't love a good pineapple upside down cake in particular? I hope you give it a shot soon, nothing like practice to make your confidence grow.

 

[Winterybella]

Well, for me the most simple cake ever is the carrot one, but when making cakes you need to be careful with the amount of oil you use. If you use too much your cake will be too oily. It's all about the balance. Also be careful when you add fruit to a cake mix, specially if making carrot cake. I love roasting the pecans with some sugar before adding them to my carrot mix cake

Trellum, about the oil, I honestly don't like the idea of using all that oil. I often cheat and use less. I saw a suggestion earlier to replace the oil with butter and substitute water for milk. I am not sure how I would arrive at the correct amount of butter, but I am willing to try most things as long as nothing will explode.

With my carrot cake I did not find any pecans, and was tempted to use some walnuts but decided to keep it simple. Baby steps until later.

 

[Trellum]

Yeah, I personally prefer to use butter over oil when possible. I suggest you to just melt one bar of butter and take it from there, if you need more you can melt more. Oil is nasty if you add a little too much, that's not the case with butter.

 

[ACSAPA]

I know this might not *sound* like the simplest thing out there, but I think pineapple upside down cakes are pretty easy and impressive for the (relatively) small amount of work they take . Here's one recipe that I like for them:

The recipes starts out like your standard pineapple upside-down cake recipe. Melt some butter, pour it into your pan, top with a sprinkle of brown sugar, pineapple slices, and maraschino cherries. I like to use a ton of cherries. Just dot them wherever you see an empty space between all the pineapple rings. You may use fresh or canned pineapples. Canned are easiest (and cheapest!).

This buttery, pineapple mixture will create the brown-sugared juicy topping to your cake when you flip it upside down before serving. It’s the best part of the entire cake, trust me. Not to mention – it’s pretty.

Top the pineapples with your vanilla cake batter. I used more brown sugar and less white sugar with this particular cake. I typically do 1/4 cup brown to 3/4 cup white. But since I love the combination of brown sugar and pineapple, I reversed those ratios to 3/4 cup brown and 1/4 cup white.

Bake the cake until it’s beautifully golden on top. This cake is extra moist, so it will take a little longer than my usual vanilla cake recipe to bake. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40+ minutes. Mine took 41 minutes exactly.

As the cake bakes, the buttery brown sugar sauce will bubble up the sides, creating a buttery glaze on all sides of the cake. It’s absolutely the best part!

Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. Then invert the cake onto your cake stand or a large serving plate. Watch the bubbly, brown sugar sauce drip down the sides. & enjoy .

If you do the same recipe in a muffin tin, you get the most adorable minis.

 

[Winterybella]

ACSAPA, what are you doing to me? I have to hide my face. My heart or health can't take it. These are delightful to the eyes. Now you have me thinking I need to get cracking with the upside down cake. How long did it take you to prepare these? One of my problems is time. I have been putting in some long hours recently.

They are simply adorable. I hope I can present something as inviting soon. I am very excited.

 

[JessiFox]

If you do the same recipe in a muffin tin, you get the most adorable minis.

And you've done it again...seriously perfect solution . And how adorable (and totally portable) are they?! Love it!

 

[Winterybella]

Yeah, I personally prefer to use butter over oil when possible. I suggest you to just melt one bar of butter and take it from there, if you need more you can melt more. Oil is nasty if you add a little too much, that's not the case with butter.

I never do too much oil. I try to hold back on it actually, I am going to try the butter and feel my way around. Someone here said baking was like chemistry but I never did well with that.

I will play around and see where it takes me.