It may be January, but it’s also the middle of winter when we all need a little pick me up! With that in mind, a bit of baking in the kitchen is a great way to treat yourself on a long, cold day, and this vanilla loaf cake is the perfect project. Even better, home baking saves you money compared to buying from the shop, so you could argue that this cake-a-thon actually supports those New Year’s resolutions…

What you need to make a vanilla loaf cake

Vanilla loaf cake is one of the easiest traditional cake recipes to master, and it is also traditionally called Pound Cake. Why? Because the recipe simply uses equal pound measures of sugar, flour and eggs. Then you can add vanilla or other flavours to suit – chocolate loaf cake is delicious too!

Tips for getting the best results for vanilla loaf cake

Always use a consistent measure for this recipe and make sure your ingredients have been allowed to come to room temperature before you whisk them together. You’ll need to bake it in a one-pound loaf tin and once it’s baked and cooked, you can have fun adding icing, sprinkles or anything else that takes your fancy. Perhaps some curls of fresh lemon zest?

Share your loaf cake!

Office lunches can become boring, especially if you aren’t lucky enough to have a catered lunch from a provider such as crumbsdelivered.co.uk/shop/office-lunch-delivery/. So, why not bring in a few slices of your delicious cake to share with your colleagues?

Making your loaf cake

To make this cake, you simply measure out your one pound amounts of self-raising flour, sugar and butter, add a teaspoon of baking powder, four eggs and some vanilla paste. Whisk the ingredients and then use the mix to fill a paper loaf tin liner.

Bake it at up to 180 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour, using a skewer to test the inside of the cake to see if it is done. Cool it, add icing, and then enjoy in generous slices!