Simple Loaf Cake

Simple base recipe. Makes a perfect loaf cake every time. Add more flavours and ingredients as you like.
Source: a friend

Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 200 g salted margarine
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda mixed with 1 tbsp lemon concentrate
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbsp rum
Total: 2 loaf cakes, 560 g each, 5300 calories, 20 servings, 265 calorie / serving of 55g

Directions:
1. Beat the margarine and the sugar until uniform and light (3-5 minutes in a stand mixer on medium speed).
2. Continue beating and add remaining ingredients in the order listed.
3. Divide the batter equally among 2 loaf pans (greased or lined with parchment paper). In my case each pan with batter weights about 940g.
4. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for about 40-50 minutes until the loafs are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The ovens may vary. In my oven I bake at 375F for 45 minutes.
5. Let the cake cool to room temperature before eating. If you want to store the cake, slice it, lay out individual slices on a baking sheet and freeze (if you freeze them together, they will stick to each other and will be hard to separate). Take out the slices as needed and defrost at room temperature for 15-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or overnight. Freezing only adds moisture to the cake.

Afterthoughts:
- I've been making this cake for years, it's a really fail-proof recipe, and requires very simple ingredients that are pretty much always on hand.
- If you have self rising flour, skip the baking powder and the baking soda.
- You can add cranberries or raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips or apples (about 100g of each.) Of coarse, not all at once, or the cake will not rise. If you are adding these, you might need to increase the baking times.
- You can also add vanilla essence or mango / lychee, orange, etc., about 1/2 tbsp.