The d day finally arrived exactly 2 weeks ago and I’m happy to announce the arrival of our son. To say life is hectic is an understatement and I’m getting used to the schedules of my newborn with oodles of help from my mother. Motherhood has its own unique share of joys, happiness, anxiety, trials and tribulations and I’m experiencing every bit of it. Life has suddenly changed forever.

This cake was one of the few things I made just a few days before the birth of our son. It is a very versatile cake. You could serve it plain, sprinkle it with icing sugar, bake it in cups to make cupcakes or bake it in a round tin to make wedges or square tin to make squares, slice it in the centre and sandwich with your favourite jams, the possibilities are endless. It can go from being a simple everyday cake to a star attraction on the table with a little bit of imagination. The reasons for eggless baking maybe many, health, allergies, religious or any other, this is quite a useful recipe to know.

I must also mention that divinetaste and my recipe for komola kheer have been featured on Kurma’s blog. Kurma das, known as the vegetarian guru of Australia is a prolific cookery author and a great chef. I feel truly honoured by his gesture.

Basic Eggless Cake Recipe

My favourite way to make this cake is to slice it in equal halves, sandwich with apricot jam* and dredge with icing sugar on top.

Ingredients:

250 gm plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
100 gm butter melted
175 ml water/milk
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Method:

Grease and line the bottom of an 8” square or 9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper/baking parchment/butter paper. In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon and sieve once to make the mixture uniform. Preheat the oven at about 100 to 120 degrees centigrade. Put in the condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla essence and water into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric hand mixer, whisk or spoon  until the mixture comes together and there are no lumps. This shouldn’t take more than a minute with an electric hand mixer/beater. Be careful not to over beat the mixture as this could result into a hard cake. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 degree centigrade.
The cake is done when a knife or cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. Invert the cake on a cooling rack, cool and use as required.

* If using jam to sandwich the cake, beat the jam in a bowl with a spoon to soften it and make it spreadable.

P.S. Since this is an eggless cake, you might find the batter on the looser side, but it comes out alright, soft and spongy out of the oven.