Okay, so it is now into October and I guess that means I’m a little late with posting my “Summer Cake” recipe (hence named because I made about one of these cakes a week, every week, all summer long, plus the original name isn’t the most uplifting name). Originally, this cake started as a standard WWII Rations Cake. I have been increasingly interested in WWII Rations recipes because they don’t frequently use eggs and rely more on cupboard staples than fresh ingredients. But, I don’t really follow the original recipe anymore, and I have found countless ways to adapt them (making every cake a unique flavour and texture).
This cake is so simple, I’m not even going to include process photos.
Summer Cake 2012
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup Flour* (see alterations for more specifics on flour and sugar)
- 1/2 cup Sugar*
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Wet ingredients:
- 6 Tbsp Oil
- 1 Tbsp White Vinegar
- 1 cup Cold Water
Alterations:
Okay, so the ingredients listed so far will make a cake.. but it won’t be very exciting. Here is some more information on how to make a truly delicious cake, and add some more nutrients (because that makes it easier to justify eating half a cake in a single night). Other than the *required* ingredients, I recommend that you add at least one other flavour to the cake, unless you want a really simple cake.
Flour: I change-up the combination of flour every time. Usually I use 1 cup of Cake Flour 1/4 cup of Whole Wheat All Purpose Flour and 1/4 cup of Quick Oats. I’ve used a lot of different types of flour, Bread Flour, different types of Multi-grain Flours, Rice Flour, Kamut flakes, Semolina, and others that I’m sure I’m forgetting. Each type of flour will give a different texture, density, and chewiness. I like adding oats and heavier grains because it makes the cake a little more textured. Really, use whatever Flour you have on hand.
Sugar: I commonly use Turbinado Sugar, but sometimes I use a mix with Brown Sugar or Cane Sugar.
Other additions/ alterations:
- Vanilla
- Sprinkles
- Fruit (I’ve tried Strawberries, Blueberries, and Apple, all have turned out great)
- Cinnamon
- Cocoa Powder
- Chocolate (or Carob) Chips/ Chunks
- adding 1/2 cup water creates a Pudding Style Cake
- Almond pieces (or ground Almonds)
- Peppermint extract (I plan on trying with fresh mint as well)
Cooking Explanation:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 C
- In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients.
- Prep your baking dish, I butter a cake pan for mine.
- Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients, then put in the oil.
- Put in the Vinegar.
- Dump in the water.
- Mix quickly, it’s okay to have lumps.
- Pour into your prepped baking dish.
- Bake for 15-25 minutes (or until the inside of the cake is cooked to your preference).
I serve this cake in different ways, from topping it with icing and sprinkles, to making fruit sauces, chocolate sauces, serving it with ice cream, heating the cake up, there are loads of ways to eat this cake so it never gets boring. Hope you like it!
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- The chocolate fudge cake was for our friend’s birthday, and the strawberries and cream cake was for brunch with my parents.
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- I’ve even been able to make two of these cakes at the same time, with different additions, to make two totally different cakes.
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- A vanilla and sprinkle cake, best if topped with white icing and more sprinkles!
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- My partner wanted a blue cake so we added some food dye to this one. It turned into a yellow and blue swirl on the inside.
Thanks for reading,
Rin Vanderhaeghe.
