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Baking guidelines
I
ngredients
100 g (4 oz) self raising flour
100 g (4 oz) soft margarine
100 g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
30 ml (2 tbsp) milk
Dish shape
Ring moulds are ideal for baking cakes in,
especially dense cakes. They help prevent the
outside edge of the cake overcooking
before the dense centre is cooked through.
Keeping quality
Light sponge type cakes cook very quickly by
microwave and so should be cooked as
required, since their keeping quality is not as
long as those baked traditionally.
Consistency
Generally cakes to be cooked by microwave
should have a softer consistency than those
baked traditionally. As a general rule add
15-30 ml (1-2 tbsp) of milk or water to the mix-
ture.
Covering
Just as you wouldnʼt cover a cake baked in a
traditional oven, NEVER cover your cakes
cooked by microwave.
Dish size
Always use the exact dish size stated in the fol-
lowing recipes, otherwise cooking times and re-
sults will be affected.
Mixing/beating
Cakes cooked by microwave need to be well
mixed, but not over beaten. Generally it is
unnecessary to cream butter and sugar or beat
eggs in an electric mixer or food processor. Do
not attempt to cook whisked/fatless sponges, or
any cakes containing whisked egg white.
Eggs
The following recipes have been tested using
medium eggs. Using a different size of egg may
affect cooking times.
Sponge Cake
Dish: 18 cm (7”) souffle dish, based lined
with greaseproof paper
1
. Combine all ingredients together in a large
bowl. Mix well until smooth. Tip into
prepared dish and smooth the top.
2. Cook on Combination: GRILL 1 and
MEDIUM Micro for 3
1⁄
2
mins. Cool for 10
mins., before turning out onto a rack. The
cake is cooked when it has just dried on the
top. Do not overcook as overcooked cakes
stale quickly.