Essential Ingredients

These are the essential ingredients:
Eggs - all the eggs use in the recipe are large, free range eggs. Eggs can be safely kept at room temperature all year round. If you are not keen on this idea, keep your eggs in a cool place, but not the fridge.
Butter -  in our recipes we are using salted or unsalted butter. Tips : Do not use butter with salt crystals as this isn't good for baking. Unsalted butter has become popular in baking and pastry-making especially when making your icing or  frosting. Ok this is important, if you bake regularly, it makes sense to keep a pack of butter out at room temperature so you don't have to bother softening some every time you fancy making a cake ( it will be fine for a couple of days, except in really hot weather ).
If you find yourself wanting to bake but have only cold butter to hand, there are few ways of softening method.
- Microwave is quick and easy method.
- Place in a bowl standing in hot water, and warm gently, creaming it with a wooden spoon to softens.
Also using your fingers and palms cut into cubes and press it. This natural warmth from your hands can soften it.
Sugar - you can make most cakes with caster sugar, but it's worth using the various sugars specified in the recipes as they have been choosen to make a significant difference to flavour and texture.
White caster sugar is the standard type, but golden caster sugar, which is now easy to find, gives excellent results in cakes.
Icing sugar is always white although  it is very fine and dry, sifting ensures you dont get lumpy icing.
Other important sweet ingredients are:
Honey, Treacle and Golden syrup, and Condensed milk

Flour - Plain flour, Self- raising flour and Bread Flour. Due to improved quality and milling process, modern flours do not need to be sifted unless the recipe indicates it is necessary.
Raising Agent - The Yeast ( fast-action or dried ), baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, which are all cheap and easy to find. Once opened should be replaced every six to nine months.
Lemons - indispensable ingredients in cakes and are best stored in the fridge where they will keep well for several weeks. 
Dairy products - requires milk, should use full or semi-skimmed milk, but not skimmed milk. Thickened cream or Double thick cream and cream cheese is full fat. 
Flavourings - make sure you buy a high quality flavouring rather than buying a poor imitations can spoil your good cake. 
Cocoa - should be a good quality cocoa powder and not drinking chocolate. It should be baking one with a decent minimum 70% cocoa solids. I am using Nestle Plaistowe Dutch processed. 
Vanilla - genuine extracts or vanilla bean.
Decorations - you can buy now in a supermarket shelves full of colorful, whimsical cake decorations. Adding the finishing touches to your cake is a matter of personal taste, but this can be a time to go wild, have fun and create fantastic flourishes.
Food Colouring Paste - we have brilliant selection of colors to choose from in the form of concentrated food coloring pastes.( Available at Spotlight or cake decorating supplies in the net ) Paste are better than liquid, as a tiny amount is needed, and you can obtain really deep colours should you wish.