The Easiest Vanilla Cake ever!

Our ‘Stud’, a buttery vanilla batter holds together a bucketful of fruit and nut. A crunchy top and a heavily studded crumb. For me, this beats any number of iced cakes hands down. This is my go to cake recipe now. Make it plain and savour the pure vanilla notes. Use vanilla beans or good quality vanilla extract to enjoy it to the full.
Add lemon or orange rind, or lots and lots of nuts like I did in this!

The Easiest Vanilla Butter Cake Ever!

200 grams each of Maida (All purpose flour), butter, powdered sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

Sift flour and baking powder.
Cream sugar and butter till light and creamy ( 5 mins)
Add eggs one by one beating after each addition.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Mix the flour in two lots.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
To add nuts, roll them in a tbsp flour and add at the end. The batter will be thick. And it needs to be.
To bake as a basic vanilla or lemon or orange add some yogurt/milk if the batter feels too thick, about 3-4 tablespoons)

The last image is of the cake baked plain and nuts added only to the top.  Mysteriously all the cashews were swiped off the crust overnight! 🧐
(Yes I still drink from superhero mugs😁)

Fruit and Nut Cake

Give me a slice of a well made, simple,unfrosted cake with my cuppa and I need nothing else! I am especially partial to the fruity and nutty variety. So here is a very simple basic vanilla cake loaded with dry fruit and nuts.

Fruit and Nut Cake

APF/Maida- 1 Cup+1 Tsp (for dusting the fruit and nut mixture)
Baking Powder- 1 tsp
Eggs,at room temperature- 2 ( To make an eggless version- you may use 1/4 cup of curd/yogurt in place of each egg. Be careful not to make the batter runny though. We are looking for a thick dropping consistency)
Powdered sugar- 1 Cup
Butter,at room temperature- 80 grams
Vanilla extract- 1 Tsp
Mixed fruit and nuts- 1 Cup (I used cherries, tutti fruity, chopped almonds, cashews and walnuts, cranberries and raisins)
Milk,at room temperature- ¼ cup (use only if needed)

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C and prepare a cake tin by lining and greasing.
Sift the flour and baking powder twice and set aside.

Mix the fruits and nuts and sprinkle a tsp of APF/Maida and mix well coating them. This will ensure that the nuts do not sink to the bottom on baking.
Take sugar and butter in a medium size bowl and beat with an electric beater till light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and beat till they are incorporated into the mix.

Add in the vanilla essence and mix once.

Fold in the flour with a spatula.

If the batter is too thick, add some milk. I needed to add about 1 tbsp. We need a thick dropping consistency batter.
Gently fold in the fruit and nut mixture.

Bake on 180C for 40 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Let cool and slice. Enjoy!