Vanilla Cake (serves 8 - 12)

When a cake is this easy to make and tastes so good, who needs a cake mix? This vanilla-scented cake is simply irresistible slathered with your favourite icing or layered in whipped cream and strawberries.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Line two 23cm round cake pans or one 23 x 33 cm rectangular baking pan with wax paper. Grease the paper and the sides of the pan well.
3. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together until slightly thickened – about one minute.
4. Add sifted flour, milk, oil, baking powder and vanilla essence, and beat for another minute – just until the batter is smooth and creamy. Don’t overbeat. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan(s).
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick poked into the centre of the layer comes out clean. A single rectangular pan will take longer to bake than two round ones.
6. Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin knife, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. Let cool completely before covering with frosting, if desired.