I just love old recipes. Making a recipe from years gone by is like a visit with an old friend. It just feels so comfortable and familiar.
That’s exactly what this cake recipe is – old. And comfortable. And so familiar.
Lazy Daisy Cake is a dessert that originated during the 1940’s before boxed mixes became widely available and people still cooked mainly from scratch. You might have even enjoyed this once or twice during your growing up years.
So easy to make, you could mix this cake up in a few minutes and pop it in the oven while you’re cooking dinner. Homemade cake for dessert on a week night. Yes! And no ordinary cake, either. The layer is wonderfully buttery but not too rich and the topping…oh, wow, that topping! The brown sugar and coconut topping is spread over the still warm cake and broiled until it’s all melty, caramel-ly, and toasted. If you like coconut, you’re going to love this.
I just can’t explain how delicious this cake is. You’ll have to make one and find out for yourself!
Start by preheating your oven and preparing a 9×13 pan. Then whisk together the dry ingredients in a little bowl. Warm the milk with the butter just until the butter melts and add the vanilla to the pan.
Using a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until they’re pale and thick. It takes about 6 minutes or so.
Now, just use a spatula to mix in the dry ingredients and milk until just incorporated. The batter will surprise you. It’s thinner than you might think.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean (about 30-35 minutes). Take the cake out and let it cool slightly while you mix together the topping ingredients. Spread the topping over the cake and place it under the broiler for 3-4 minutes or until nice and bubbly and the coconut begins to toast. Serve warm.
The cake can be stored at room temperature for at least 4 days. You’ll want to reheat individual servings in the microwave.
Enjoy!
Yields About 15 servings
A vintage recipe - buttery yellow cake layer with a broiled coconut topping.
15 minPrep Time
45 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
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Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 tblsp. butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 9 tblsp. butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 6 tblsp. evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- Heat the butter and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts. Stir in the vanilla.
- With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick, about 6 minutes.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture and milk mixture alternately until just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Let cool slightly in the pan, about 10 minutes.
- Heat the broiler.
- Combine the butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, and coconut in a medium bowl. Spread the topping evenly over cake. Broil until topping bubbles and just begins to brown, 3-4 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. Reheat individual servings in the microwave.
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Other old-fashioned cake recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:
- The Best One-Bowl Yellow Cake Recipe from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
- A Collection of Vintage Cake Recipes from the 50’s and 60’s
- One-Bowl Chocolate Mocha Cream Cake from MyRecipes.com
- Vintage Cake Recipes from Gram’s Recipe Box
- Wonderful images for vintage cake recipes from Google Images
What I was up to…
- One year ago: Apple Patchwork Cobbler
- Two years ago: Chocolate-Chocolate Cake
- Three years ago: Seafood Casserole
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