There are many types of cakes Birthday, Christmas and Easter all have recipes specifically designed with these occasions in mind, but realising that different people want different cakes, these are basic recipes for traditional style cakes.

Choosing a traditional recipe for a birthday cake is a little difficult as it raises the question of what is a traditional birthday cake?  In our family a traditional birthday cake was a Madeira cake for one, a chocolate sponge cake for another and a gluten-free option for a third. 

Madeira cake

5 oz softened butter

8 oz sugar

3 eggs

1 oz cornstarch

1 lb flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 pint milk

Cream the shortening, adding sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating well.  Add beaten eggs one at a time beating well after each egg is added.  Add a little flour just before adding the final egg.  Add the vanilla extract and fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Pour into a greased and lined tin and bake at 180°C for 60 minutes. Let it stand in the tin for five minutes after it comes out of the oven before turning out onto a wire rack. Frosting to be done only when completely cold.

To ring the changes with this Madeira mixture

Cherry cake 

Add 8 oz of washed and dried cherries to the basic mixture

Fruit cake

Add 8 oz of mixed, dried fruit and 4 oz of chopped candied peel and give the cake an extra 20 minutes in the oven.  You may also like to add chopped nuts or ground almonds to the mixture.

Marble cake

Divide the basic mixture into three.  Leave one plain add a few drops of cochineal to the second and a bar of melted chocolate to the third.  Put alternate spoonfuls into the cake tin and bake.

Seed cake

Add a dessertspoon of caraway seeds to the basic mixture.

Chocolate sponge cake

4 eggs

4 oz powdered sugar

3 oz flour – 2 tablespoons

2 tblsp cocoa powder

Put eggs and sugar into a bowl, beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is very pale in colour and the whisk leaves a trail on the surface of the mixture.  Sift the flour and cocoa powder at least three times and gently fold into the egg and sugar mixture.  Turn into a greased and floured tin and bake at 180°C for 45 minutes.

Sandwich together with whipped cream marbled with melted chocolate.

Gluten-free lemon drizzle cake

6 oz softened butter

6 oz powdered sugar

7 oz almond meal

4 eggs

Zest of 2 oranges and 2 lemons

14 oz mashed potato

Topping

Juice of two lemons

3 oz powdered sugar

Cream together the sugar, butter and the orange and lemon zest until pale and well mixed.  Mix in the mashed potatoes.  Whisk together the eggs and the almond meal and fold them into the mashed potato mixture.  Pour into a greased and lined tin and bake at 180°C for 35 – 40 minutes.  Leave in the tin until cold.  Place the sugar and lemon juice in a small pan and gently heat until the sugar melts, pour warm juice over and leave until well soaked.  Serve with lightly whipped cream with zest of lemon added to it.

Rich Christmas cake

1 lb butter

1 lb powdered sugar

1 lb flour

1/2 lb each raisins, sultanas and chopped peel

1/4 lb each cherries, whole almonds (skinned and shredded), almond meal

11/2 lb currants

1 oz mixed spice

8 eggs

Pinch salt

1/2 glass brandy

1 oz grated lemon rind

Sieve together flour, salt, spices, almond meal and grated lemon rind.  Quarter cherries and mix with the rest of the fruit, peel and shredded almonds.  Beat the eggs slightly and mix them with the brandy.  Soften the butter and cream together with the sugar.  Add the eggs a little at a time, add a little of the flour mixture before adding the last of the eggs to avoid curdling.  Lightly fold in the rest of the flour and gently stir in the fruit.

Have the tin (10” by 3 1/2”) deep prepared beforehand.  Line the bottom of the tin with two thicknesses of non-stick paper and tie a double band of brown paper around the outside of the tin.  Stand the tin on a large baking sheet.  Put the mixture into the tin and bake for 5 1/2 hours at 160°C.  Remove from the oven and allow cake to stand for 5 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. 

Store double wrapped in non-stick paper in a cool dry place. Every week take out the cake and pierce with a thin skewer and pour small amounts of brandy over the cake.  About two weeks before Christmas cover the cake with almond paste and when completely dry, a rich coating of royal frosting. So many cakes Birthday, Christmas and Easter all kinds for all types of people.  Enjoy!