Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

After I got my new oven ,making a cake was one of my top priorities but due to some or the other reason it remained pending till now.My husband loves cakes and he wanted a tea cake or a plain sponge cake that would ideal for a snack in the evening and comparatively less in calories. After a lot of googling I came across an eggless version of Nita Mehta 's vanilla cake and with its simple ingredients I wanted to try it for this Valentine's Day.It came out pretty awesome,super soft and moist.

I wanted to bake it in a heart shaped tin but after searching all the supermarkets nearby I was not lucky to find one ,so I went ahead with the round container (small) which I had and baked the cake .as the tin was small ,I poured a small amount of batter in to two cupcake moulds as well and the cupcakes were  a total hit and my son finished them as soon as I baked it.This cake can also be used as a base for birthday cakes.As I wanted it to be a tea cake I didn't do any icing and just decorated it with few colorful sprinkles.

Serves :3

Preparation time:50 mins

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/maida-1 and 1/2 cups

Sugar-3/4 cup

Plain yogurt/thick curd-1 cup

Cooking oil(odour less)-1/2 cup

Baking powder-1 1/4 tsp

Baking soda-1 tsp

Vanilla essence-1 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

1.PreHeat the oven at 200 C for 10 minutes.Sieve the all purpose flour and keep it aside.

2.Beat the yogurt and sugar together till the sugar gets dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

3.Add the baking powder and the baking soda and keep this mixture aside till small bubbles form in the mixture.

4.Add the vanilla essence and oil to this mixture and mix well.

5.Now add the all purpose flour little by little and keep mixing till you get a creamy dough.You can use cut and fold method but avoid over beating mixture as it takes away the aeration in the mixture.

6.Pour the cake mixture in to a greased tin.Make sure the mixture fills half of the cake mould giving enough space for the cake to rise while baking.bake the cake at 200C for 10 mins and at 175 C for 30-35 mins until the tooth pick inserted in it comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for 20-30 mins and then cut the slices.stays well for upto 2 days at room temperature and for upto 4 days when refrigerated.

Tips:

*Make sure the yogurt or curd is very thick .i used the milky mist curd as it is thick.you can also use homemade curd which is thick.

*The cake may crack in middle of the container is very small or if there is too much of baking powder.

*The amount of sugar was just right for a tea cake or for a sponge cake which can be used as a base for icing.If you are sweet toothed then increase the sugar to 1 cup.

*You can add nuts or tutti fruti or chocochips to the batter for a variation.