Have you eaten the Nigerian cake? The cake is an important and delicious snack in Nigeria, it is mostly used in weddings, Nigerian birthdays, anniversaries and etc, people sometimes just store it in their houses to entertain their guests or even munch on them whenever they want to. Here we are going to list out the recipes for making Nigerian cakes and also instructions on how to make the cake you just have to follow the process.
Ingredients for making Nigerian cake
The quantity of ingredients varies, depending on the size of the Nigerian cake, the quantities of ingredients listed below is for a 10-inch diameter and 2.5-inch-deep cake pan and a height of 2.5 inches with a slight dome.
- 4 cups (500g) All-Purpose Flour
- 12 Eggs
- 4 sticks (500g) Butter (NOT Margarine)
- 400g (2 cups) Granulated Sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup brandy
Equipment for Baking a Nigerian Cake
The following are the tools you’ll need to bake a Nigerian Cake:
- An oven with a top and down heating capability is best
- Cake mixer
- Kitchen scale
- Sieve or Sifter
- Egg Whisk
- Bowls
- Spatulas
- Cake Pan: 10 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches deep
Before you make the Nigerian Cake
These are the steps to take before making your Nigerian cake.
- Make sure that all the utensils and appliances you will use for the cake are clean and dry.
- Check, check and check that you have all the ingredients you will need to bake the cake.
- Print out the Nigerian cake recipe and keep it close by.
Making the Nigerian Cake: Step by Step
1. Cream the butter and the sugar
Put the soft butter and the granulated sugar into the mixer and start creaming.
2. Prepare your baking pan for your Nigerian Cake.
When you are almost done with the creaming, prepare your cake pan by rubbing the insides with soft butter.
3. Beat the Eggs
Break all the eggs into a big bowl and whisk them to a smooth blend.
4. Add the eggs and mix
Before you do this step, you should make sure that your butter and sugar are well creamed.
If your mixer is big enough to accommodate the creamed butter and sugar with the whisked eggs, add the whisked egg into the mixer. Mix till you have a smooth fluffy blend of the creamed butter/sugar and the eggs.
5. Turn on your oven to preheat
It’s now time to turn on your oven to 150°C or 302°F so that it can start heating up while you finish mixing the cake. You should also switch it to the up & down heat setting.
6. Add the ornamental ingredients
Add the vanilla extract or any other flavours of your choice, add the brandy and pre-soaked dry fruits (if any) and stir with a wooden spatula till everything is well incorporated.
7. Add the plain flour with the baking powder
- Now, add the baking powder to the plain flour.
- Put the mix into a sieve or a flour sifter. Add small quantities of the flour through the sieve/sifter into the bowl where you already have other cake ingredients.
- Stir very well with the wooden spatula. Add another small quantity of flour with baking powder. Stir.
- Repeat this process till all the flour is incorporated. I warn you; this procedure can make your arm die a bit so be sure you are ready for the arm exercise before you start.
8. Pour the cake mix into the greased cake pan
- Once every ingredient is well incorporated, it’s time to pour the mix into the greased cake pan.
- If you want to make a multicolour layered cake then you should at this point divide the cake mix into the number of colours you want. Put these into separate clean dry bowls. Add the colours to each, stir well and pour into the cake pan one after the other. You should make sure you level out each coloured cake mix as much as possible before pouring another one.
- Once you’ve poured in all the cake mix into the cake pan, gently lift and drop the cake pan several times to level out the cake mix as much as possible (see video). Don’t worry if the top is not so smooth, as soon as the heat of the oven gets to it, it will level out.
9. How to bake Nigerian cake ?
- Transfer the cake to the preheated oven, placing the rack halfway between the top and the bottom of the oven.
- Bake for at least 2 hours before attempting to open the oven door to check the cake. It took my cake 2 hours to rise to maximum and if you open the oven door before the cake has fully risen, you have interrupted the baking process, the cake will stop rising, may not be evenly cooked when done and it will be harder than normal when done. There are endless things that can go wrong with your cake if you do not wait for it to rise fully before opening the oven door. That it smells like cake does not mean that it is done.
- Even though mine took 2 hours, you should keep an eye on yours till you notice that it is no longer rising before attempting to open the oven door. All ovens are not the same so you should use my baking time as a guide only.
10. Observe the Cake
- After 2 hours, when I’m sure that the cake is no longer rising, I check it by driving a knife into the center of the cake. If the knife comes out with smears of the cake mix, then the cake is not done. If it comes out clean and dry, with only a smear of butter (oily look) then the cake is done. If the cake passes the knife test, I go on to do the other tests.
- The second way I check the cake is to take a look at the sides of the cake pan. The cake should be separated from the pan or at least not stuck to the pan.
- The third way I check that the cake is done is to dip a wooden skewer (stick) into the middle of the cake. Wooden skewers are a bit rougher than knives so they tend to pick up smears more. So, if the wooden skewer comes out clean, the cake should be done.
- Even when my cake passes all of the above checks, I still carry out the fourth test so that I can be doubly sure that it is done before bringing it out of the oven. Nobody wants to end up with an undone cake. The fourth and final check I carry out is to gently push the cake down in the middle with my open palm. If the cake springs back when I left my palm and there is no impression of my palm on the cake, then the cake is done.
