Oil or Butter the base of the two, 6-inch cake pan, line it with parchment paper and dust the sides with some flour set aside.
Add vinegar and vanilla essence (or vanilla extract) to warm milk. Mix and set it aside for 5 mins to curdle. This is your DIY Buttermilk.
Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, cornflour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and keep them ready.
Step 1 - Creaming the Butter
In a large mixing bowl start by creaming the softened butter until creamy. Do remember to scrape the bowl every now and then for even creaming. This would take around 2-3 mins using a hand mixer depending upon how soft your butter was.
Then add the caster sugar and beat along with the butter until light and fluffy for around 5-8 mins. Do this step well as this is what will incorporate air into the batter.
Finally, add the condensed milk and beat it well.
Step 2 - Preparing Cake Batter
Add 1/3 of the sieved dry ingredients and GENTLY mix using a spatula.
When you can still see some bits of flour un-incorporated add half of the prepared buttermilk (milk+vinegar) mixture and mix that too.
Repeat the above two steps until all the flour and buttermilk have been used up. You would add dry ingredients in 3 stages and wet ingredients (buttermilk) in 2 stages.
Step 3 - Baking
Transfer the cake batter evenly to the prepared cake pans. Smooth the top and bake in the preheated oven of 180°C for 25 to 30 mins. If baking in one pan it would take a little longer to bake. The temperature remains the same, the time duration would be 30 to 40 mins.
Step 4 - Cooling
Once the cake is baked (a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean) let it sit in the cake pan itself for another 3 mins and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Slice and store only when it is cooled completely.
Video
Notes
Using this recipe you can make two, "6-inch cake layers" or one, "8 inch cake layer". You can also use the same recipe to make a square cake, loaf cake, bundt cake etc. The temperature remains the same. Timings might vary. Check constantly after the first 35 mins of baking time.
This cake is best enjoyed warm with a cup of tea. Makes an excellent base recipe for all your travel cakes. Can also be used as a base for layer cakes just make sure to moisten it well and then stack.
I would not recommend using 100% whole wheat flour to make this recipe. You can try 50:50 APF to whole wheat flour.
Always cling wrap and then store the cake.
Do not use melted butter it won't mix with the sugar to create air pockets. Butter must be soft to touch. Do check the video recipe to understand the consistency.
Vegetable oil cannot be used in this recipe. Check out our Gulab Jamun Cake recipe which makes an excellent eggless sponge recipe using oil.
Beat the butter and sugar well to create air pockets until the butter is visibly white and creamy. This would take around 10 to 13 mins depending upon the type of hand mixer you are using.
Gently fold the dry and wet ingredients, ensuring you do not deflate the batter. And stop when you no longer see any dry flour left out. Over-mixing would result in a dry and tough cake.
Add nuts or tutti-fruity to the cake batter to get a crunchy texture.
Bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Over-baking would cause the cake to dry out faster.
For best results allow the cake to cool completely before slicing.
As a general rule of thumb, for an eggless cake recipe, do remember to preheat the oven, line the cake tin well and also remember to slice and store as mentioned in the post.