A moist cake drenched with vanilla syrup. Grease a round, deep 20cm easy cake decorating ideas at home, then line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
Add 1 tbsp of the plain flour if the mix starts to look slimy rather than fluffy. Meanwhile, make the syrup by gently heating 50ml water with the sugar and vanilla in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Once the cake is out of the oven, leave to cool for 30 mins in the tin, then use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake, going right to the bottom. Pour the syrup over, letting it completely soak in after each addition. Leave to cool completely, then either wrap the cake well or fill and ice it. If you wrap it with baking parchment and cling film, the unfilled cake will keep well for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to a month. For ideas on how to decorate the cake and to try out some variations on this basic cake mixture, have a look at the ‘Goes well with’ recipes for Simple elegance wedding cake, Birthday bug cake and Summer celebration cake.
Why is it called vanilla cake? Vanilla cake is a basic sponge which is enriched with vanilla flavouring and typically covered in a plain buttercream. It is made by using the creaming method whereby butter and sugar are creamed together before being mixed with eggs and finally folded with flour. What vanilla should I use to make this cake? For the best flavour, we recommend making your own syrup using a vanilla pod or vanilla bean paste heated with caster sugar.
It is worth paying a little extra to buy good quality vanilla extract and avoid anything that says vanilla essence or flavouring, as the flavour is much deeper from real vanilla pods. Make sure all your ingredients are the same temperature and not fridge cold. Do not melt it, just leave it to come to room temperature. If you need to speed up the softening process, cut it into cubes and lay flat on a plate. Use eggs at room temperature – they will volumise better resulting in a fluffier sponge, and incorporate better with the other sponge cake ingredients.