My Mom's Yummy Vanilla Cake

MY mom used to bake this awesome cake at home almost once every month. The whole house used to smell so yummy with vanilla flavors floating in the air. Our neighbors knew instantly that a few slices of cake would be coming their way for their evening cup of tea. She still bakes the cake just this way and it is still one of the yummiest cakes I have ever eaten.

I love baking breads and cakes. I have experimented baking a lot of different types of cakes and lots of different types of breads too. But, her recipe is still the closest to my heart - and when it comes to baking a simple vanilla cake or a chocolate cake - I just run to this no fail recipe. The spongy and yummy cake is a favorite even at my home now. Thanks Mom for this yummy treat and the most awesome cake recipe. 

Sharing her recipe here for all the friends who have asked for this recipe over and over again. The picture here is of a chocolate cake I baked using this recipe for my Daughter's Christmas Party at school. Pardon me for the unflattering image as I just clicked it using my phone before heading for the party. Will bake this cake again and share new photos soon.

Ingredients

1 cup oil/ghee/butter (for best results always use butter)

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

4 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (this is optional - but, mom always added a bit)

Method

In a big mixing bowl - mix together the butter and sugar till all the sugar is melted. Then add the eggs and beat well till all is mixed well. Then add milk and maida little by little and keep mixing to avoid lumps. Add salt, baking powder, lemon juice and essence and mix well. 

Take a baking pan and dust it well - add the cake mixture to fill the pan to 1/2 to 3/4 capacity. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake it till the center of the cake when pierced with a toothpick comes out clean.

I generally bake this in my bundt pan - which is bigger than the usual 8X8 square pan. 

Variations

• To make chocolate cake - mix 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder to the mixture and mix well.
• To make layers - divide the batter into 2 parts - leave one as is and in the other one add 1/4 cup of coca powder and layer in the baking pan. 
• I make strawberry cake - by substituting the vanilla essence with strawberry essence and 2 drops of red coloring - and to add some effect I add diced fresh or dried strawberries.
• You can add dry fruits or tutti fruity to make a fruit cake - just dust them with all purpose flour and add to the cake batter before pouring it into the baking pan.
• You can add two tablespoons of lemon zest and increase the lemon juice to 1 tablespoon to get a nice yummy lemon cake.
• I have baked these into cupcakes too and they come out amazing.