If you follow me on Instagram, you probably already read about what i’m going to say in this post, and you may want to skip directly to the recipe below. I had to post this to the blog for the over 70% of my traffic that does not come from Instagram.
BLOG STATISTICS
In April, the blog got over 94000 pageviews, and over 30000 unique visitors. The reason for my excitement is not just these stats alone, but the growth and engagement I have seen in these last few weeks. When I started sharing my lockdown series, I really hadn’t expected much. I had never taken the effort to share my blog with anyone before this and had steadily remained at a few hundred views for sometime now. When a lot of messages suddenly started coming in, I first thought it’s largely owing to the lockdown effect and more people baking now than before. However, the numbers suggest it’s more than that. The feedback that I’ve received and all the messages telling me that the recipe was easy to follow, and came out well, reaffirm that i’m doing something right. When I share a post, I personally ensure that every recipe I think of or recreate is tested in my kitchen atleast a few times, I make changes and tweaks based on my experience, I take pictures of every step along the way, so that when you make it, you have a visual to refer to. It means a lot more effort than simply making a batter and baking a cake. Yet I’ve diligently done it for every recipe I’ve shared so far. To know that the recipe worked well for someone, to see the excitement of a first-time baker with a perfectly baked cake, are the things that make all the effort worthwhile! It’s been absolutely incredible to have so many of you try the recipes and share your pictures and feedback. I know there is still a long way to go, but it’s always nice to stop and acknowledge the little joys of life every once in a while. Specially in these last few weeks when things haven’t looked great even on the best of days, any reason to celebrate is an occasion in itself. So I created this little moment for us – a day to celebrate. Continue reading to know about the cake I baked.
ABOUT THIS CAKE
This is a simple but beautiful vanilla sponge layered with whipped cream and mangoes. You will find the recipe here
The sponge doesn’t have any eggs or condensed milk and yet is a light and airy cake that can be eaten by itself or used as a base to make decorative cakes. It works well with most frostings from ganache to whipped cream. Since I was making it for a celebration, I decked it up a bit. Whipped cream (you can read how to make it here) + fresh mangoes + caramelized walnuts + rose petals.
UPDATE:
The recipe from this post has been moved to a separate post in order to be more easily searchable for my blog readers. However, the recipe is the same and no changes have been made to it. So if you have bookmarked the earlier post, don’t worry, you’ll just find more details without any recipe changes on the new post here.
Vanilla Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups All-purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 cup Yogurt
- ¾ cup Castor Sugar
- ½ cup Oil/Melted Butter
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
- Line and grease a 8 inch pan. Pre-heat oven to 180 degree C.
- Measure yogurt in a bowl. Add sugar and whisk well.
- Sieve the baking powder, and baking soda into the yogurt, whisk and keep this aside till bubbles appear on the surface – 5-7 minutes.
- Add the oil/butter, and vanilla and mix.
- Finally add the flour in batches and whisk everything together so that no lumps of flour remain. The batter should not be runny or too thick.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared pan. Bake at 180 degree C for 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely and serve. Or top with your favorite frosting.
Notes
- This is a vanilla sponge so a good quality vanilla extract will go a long way. However if you don’t have it, or want to skip it, you can even add the zest of one lemon or lime for added flavor.
- If your cake doesn’t brown from the top, change your oven setting to broil for the last 3-4 minutes. Keep a keen eye during this time since it can burn quickly in this function.
- For measurement conversions to grams and ml, refer the conversion guide here – Measurements Conversion Guide
Can i use 6 inch tin for the recipe?
Hi Mansi, a 6 inch tin will be a bit small. It may leave some cracks on top of the cake and may take longer for the cake center to cook properly.