Out of many things that I miss these days at home is the food we could just walk into any eatery or shop and pick up. And among all the yummy delights I miss, I crave the most for cakes.

Dense, light or fluffy — cakes are kings of sweets and the heart of any celebration. So since there is Mother’s Day tomorrow, you should surprise your mum, who is working very hard these days to keep us all comfortable, with a delicious and easy cake that you can make all by yourself. Well, almost as you just need an adult’s help in handling the oven to bake it, the rest you can do on your own.

There are just three main ingredients needed here, which you should easily find at home, and the process is also very simple. Since I am a chocolate-lover, I added two tablespoons of cocoa powder to enhance the flavour, so this fourth ingredient is optional.

Take any biscuits you have at home, you can use a couple of flavours or more, and the taste will depend on the biscuits you use. To give it a more chocolate flavour, use chocolate biscuits only.

Ingredients

• 2 cups biscuits, any flavour

• 1 cup milk

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

In a chopper or food processor, put all the biscuits to turn them into a powdery form. Use enough biscuits to make up two cups. If using a food processor, like I did, add baking soda, cocoa powder and milk, and turn on the machine for a minute or so until all are blended well.

You can also mix it by hand or use a hand-held beater to combine the three ingredients in a bowl.

Now transfer this into a greased pan or over-proof dish. Ask an adult to put it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. After about 20-25 minutes, turn the heat a little low to 150 degrees centigrade. Check if the cake leaves the side of the pan and a toothpick or knife comes out clean from the centre, as in the usual cakes.

Optional step: I had some chocolate, so I melted it in a non-stick pan on low heat and poured it on the cake after it had cooled down and sprinkled some more grated chocolate on top.

You can use any other topping, like cream or just enjoy it as it is.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers!

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 9th, 2020