Baking to Feel Better?

I felt really bad when I woke-up this morning. Raging temperature, nausea, the feeling of wanting to curl up and die. Curled up and wanting to die was more or less what I was up to the whole day. With temperatures climbing and dipping, I vaccilated between shivering and sweating – my whole back felt as if it was being trod on by some horrid giant. So, have not been able to eat much today either and towards the evening I began to have a hankering for plain, butter cake. Just plain, nothing fancy, yellow butter cake. The kind that crumbles but moist. Not really pound cake in consistency – it’s supposed to be soft and spongy but with crumbs to die for.

My sister-in-law (hubby’s youngest sister,) makes the best butter cakes I have ever eaten in my life. I have watched her make those cakes. Helped her even, when she makes the cakes in my in-law’s house and I swear, she does not put in anything special, but those cakes of hers… I have yet to taste anything like it anywhere else. Since she lives so far away, I had to crawl out of bed and mix a batch of the butter cake myself – but of course, now that its in the oven – I don’t really wanna eat anything anymore. Oh well… Here’s the butter cake recipe that I use. I don’t really feel up to taking pictures today, but I will share the recipe with you here :

 Rich Butter Cake

260gm butter

250gm sugar

250gm self raising flour

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/3 cup fresh milk (room temperature)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (normal oven) or 120 degrees celcius for convection.

Cream butter and sugar till mixture is white and fluffy (I tend to take a long time here)

Beat in the eggs 1 by 1, beating at least 20 seconds per egg before adding the other one

Add the vanilla essence – beat well – put away your electric mixer

Using plain wooden spoon, mix in the flour and milk – alternate one with the other. Do not over beat the flour.

Bake in 120 degrees (convection oven) for about 1 hour

 Sometimes when I am in the mood, I would add lemon peel to this mix, just to give it that fresh zing. But not tonight. I can hear my bed and blanket calling out to me again. Peace and out!