Lazy Daisy Cake

I went to a dear friend’s farewell party last night and I wanted to bring something but I didn’t have enough time to make anything complicated. Good thing I have a quick and easy recipe on hand from America’s Test Kitchen. It’s called Lazy Daisy Cake.

This recipe makes one 8-inch square cake although there were a few times we’ve doubled it since this cake can be kept at room temperature for a few days. Like I said, this cake can be made quickly and served warm after a few minutes.

Ingredients

Cake
* 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 cup whole milk
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs, room temperature
* 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar

Topping
*3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 1/4 cup packed (1-3/4 ounces) light brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
* 3/4 cup (3 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut

Preparation

FOR THE CAKE. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 by 9-inch broiler-safe baking pan. For better results, the pan could be lined with a foil sling that has also been greased. 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.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 4 to 6 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining milk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the pan, and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the cake cool slightly in the pan, about 10 minutes.

FOR THE TOPPING. Adjust an oven rack to about 9 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler. In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, melted butter and evaporated milk together, then stir in the coconut. Spread the mixture evenly over the warm cake and broil until the topping is bubbling and golden, 3 to 5 minutes, checking often to prevent the icing from burning.

As a side note, one time we didn’t have evaporated milk for the topping so we substituted it with 3 tablespoons of condensed milk. We found it made the cake taste even better so from then on, we’ve always made it with condensed milk. You can also use cream in case you happen to have it in the fridge.

Let the cake cool slightly in the pan, about 30 minutes. If desired, remove the cake from the pan using the foil before serving.

Try it! It could well be one of the best desserts you’ll ever taste.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

'Tis the Season!