Monday, May 17 is World Baking Day, and whether your preferred baking treat is cake, cookies, brownies or biscuits, just make sure you get your fix on the day.
According to Days of the Year, the day was created to spread the joy of baking around the world. It is the perfect time for first-time bakers to whip out that rolling pin, bake a cake, and celebrate.
The site adds: “This day is meant to show people just how much fun it can be to make a cake or some cookies, and baking can be a great way to spend time with family and friends.”
So, you are not an expert baker – maybe precise measurements scare you, or you prefer French fries to French pastry.
But if you are looking to improve your baking skills and add some foolproof cakes, cookies, and muffins to your repertoire, try out any of these classic recipes, which we are pretty sure you will make for the rest of your life.
Chef Lungi’s soft bread
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp of yeast
1 tbsp of sugar
2 tsp of salt
¼ cup oil
Warm water to mix.
Method
Preheat your oven to 160°C
In a large bowl, mix all your flour, yeast, and sugar and stir. Add salt and oil, stir. Add enough water to wet the ingredient then mix to form a dough.
Knead for about 15 minutes until the dough is smooth then put it on a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise to double the size. When your dough has doubled in size, knead it back down, and place it in an oiled bread tin and bake for 20 minutes.
Zola Nene's piña colada layer cake
Ingredients
For the sponge:
125g butter, softened
250g castor snow
3 large eggs
165ml double cream plain yoghurt
Zest of 1 lime
220g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups desiccated coconut
For the filling:
4 cups diced pineapple
¼ cup castor sugar
Juice of 1 lime
¼ cup rum
For the frosting:
500g full-fat plain cream cheese, at room temperature
250g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups sifted icing sugar
To decorate:
Toasted coconut shavings
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease and line 3x20cm round cake tins.
Beat butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in eggs, yoghurt, and lime zest.
Sift together flour and baking powder then fold into the wet ingredients.
Gently fold in the coconut, then spoon batter into the prepared tins.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Leave cakes to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before unmolding and cooling on a wire rack.
Make the pineapple filling by placing all the ingredients into a pot, bring to a simmer and cook on a gentle heat for 5 minutes. Remove and leave to cool completely.
For the frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add icing sugar and mix until smooth.
Assemble by placing one sponge onto a serving plate, top with the cream cheese frosting, then top with half the pineapple filling. Repeat layering, finishing off with a layer of cream cheese frosting.
Finish the cake with toasted coconut shavings to decorate.
The recipe was supplied by Lancewood.
Sticky toffee pudding with hot toffee sauce
Serves: 6
Ingredients
190g plain flour
1 pinch salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
120g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
6 tsp melted butter
120ml milk
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the sugar and mix well.
In another bowl add milk, eggs, vanilla essence, and melted butter. Whisk together until light frothy foam forms on top.
Add the milk mixture to the flour and mix together until smooth.
Pour into a greased baking dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the cake is firm on top.
To make the sauce:
120g margarine
200g soft brown sugar
250ml double cream
Add butter, sugar, and cream to a large saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until the sauce is a smooth consistency and a dark brown colour.
Stir regularly.
Then, remove from the stove and let it stand for 5 minutes before pouring over the pudding.
Recipe by Jenni Jackson of Blue Strawberry Caterers.