Yesterday I baked a cake...

A pound of glacé cherries? 6 eggs? A block of butter?

If you used them all in one cake, sounds very decadent but yummy.

I too was astonished at the quantities, and also that there was no raising agent, just plain flour, plus 2 oz of self raising. Having said that, it is a lovely cake, will be enjoyed over the week, but perhaps won't be made again for a while! I have never put that many eggs in a cake before.

I made a banana cake yesterday as I had some very mushy bananas. Not too many ingredients, but it sank. Cakes can be bought so cheaply now, I do wonder what manufacturers put in them to keep costs so low

Yes, it does make you think. I appreciate the economies of scale will make ingredients cheaper, but I don't have to package, transport and market my cake. I am in a bit of a baking phase at the moment, it must be the weather. Last week I too used some squishy bananas, and made Paul Hollywood's banana loaf with walnuts. It doesn't sink!

My friend worked out that the ingredients for the (not huge) Christmas cake she made cost her £30. I bought one (first time ever) for less than £10 and it was very good.

I love cakes so much)))

Oh my, so many ££ for a fancy cake. Enjoyable dessert, for sure!

Walnut torten I bake for our family includes eggs, ground nuts, bread crumbs, sugar. Cost isn't nearly as dear to glace cherries, butter.

A few years back, my son decided he would make the dessert for Christmas dinner - a chocolate orange cake. We duly traipsed round the supermarket and bought all the ingredients (including a new cake tin). The recipe involved boiling a whole orange (peel and all) then liquidising it and mixing with the cake batter. It ended up a lovely cake, but I dread to think how much it cost. I could probably have bought half-a-dozen supermarket cakes (or maybe even more)! But home baking is always nicer - and as has been said, at least you know what's in it.

Please can we have the recipe, HPQ?

It sounds very suitable for a special occasion.

Yes, may we please have the recipe?

Anyone tried Porter cake? Hubbie makes it....the bottle of porter is some for the cake and some for him.It must be thirsty work all that baking!!

Lizbethann55

I made a banana cake yesterday as I had some very mushy bananas. Not too many ingredients, but it sank. Cakes can be bought so cheaply now, I do wonder what manufacturers put in them to keep costs so low

I followed Nigella's banana cake recipe and that one doesn't sink.

Funny you should mention cake, I have 3 rather dark bananas 🤔

Yours sounds lovely, HousePlantQueen

Regarding cake ingredients and cost..
We are (most of us) eating too many Ultra Processed Foods
That's why our food can be cheaper than "real" food ought to be.

www.independent.co.uk/news/health/ultra-processed-foods-list-cancer-risk-b2274166.html

I found the paper this is based on and it's quite an eye opener.
Very little research into UPFs so this study is interesting.

The thing is, though, that a lot of the ingredients you buy to make your one cake are not all used at once in that one cake - the butter, cherries, flour etc will only be partly used for that particular cake, there will be some left which can be used, therefore, for additional yummy home bakes. So, the initial outlay might seem high, but once costed out, not quite so high as it at first seems. Plus, the taste of home bakes is generally far superior to shop bought.

Actually HouseplantQueen, reading your post again, did the recipe say it needed a pound of glacé cherries, a full block of butter and 6 eggs? That seems an awful lot. Did it make a big cake? 😊

I love baking. In fact I whipped up a dozen ginger and rum muffins this morning. I will top them with frosting made from lemon juice and icing sugar.

I will post the recipe for all who are interested. It is delicious 😋. It does make me think about the quality of the ingredients in manufactured cakes, and appreciate the cost of having a slice of decent cake when out for a ☕️

But how many additives were in the bought cakes, emulsifiers chemicals to keep it moist, stop it going mouldy, extend its shelf life.

In fact a bought cake is a classic example of the Ultra Processed Foods, we are told contribute to obesity and other health problems.

So eat your home made cakes, knowing they are expensive, but also that they are good for your health (compared with the shop bought alternative)

NotSpaghetti

Regarding cake ingredients and cost..
We are (most of us) eating too many Ultra Processed Foods
That's why our food can be cheaper than "real" food ought to be.

www.independent.co.uk/news/health/ultra-processed-foods-list-cancer-risk-b2274166.html

I found the paper this is based on and it's quite an eye opener.
Very little research into UPFs so this study is interesting.

Interesting link.

However, we really don't eat those foods, do we?

Callistemon21

Lizbethann55

I made a banana cake yesterday as I had some very mushy bananas. Not too many ingredients, but it sank. Cakes can be bought so cheaply now, I do wonder what manufacturers put in them to keep costs so low

I followed Nigella's banana cake recipe and that one doesn't sink.

Funny you should mention cake, I have 3 rather dark bananas 🤔

Yours sounds lovely, HousePlantQueen

Dark bananas are the best! I make biscuits, weekly, for our GC.

Healthy food, approved by their mums.

I found a recipe from Newfound;and that used 1lb of glace cherries. It only used three eggs though.

Link: www.rockrecipes.com/newfoundland-cherry-cake/

HousePlantQueen

I too was astonished at the quantities, and also that there was no raising agent, just plain flour, plus 2 oz of self raising. Having said that, it is a lovely cake, will be enjoyed over the week, but perhaps won't be made again for a while! I have never put that many eggs in a cake before.

It sounds great!
I only use Stork, the soft tub kind, which makes a nice cake, but I do use loads of eggs, 6 or 7. They’ll raise the cake and make it yummy.Plain flour is needed cos of the fruit, to stop all the cherries from sinking.

Exactly Monica.