Lazy Daisy Cake

I was looking around for something relatively simple to make, and discovered this. Apparently it’s been around for a while – some say since the early 1900’s and some say since the 1940’s or so. Since there are so many stories, as you can imagine, there are many variations as well. But they’re all really simple but even so the flavor is pretty unique. A little praline-like, a little caramel-like…but absolutely delicious. Here’s my take on something I hadn’t even realized is a classic!

Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Cake

· 4 eggs

· 2 cups sugar

· 3 t vanilla

· 2 cups flour

· 2 t baking powder

· 1 t baking soda

· ¼ t salt

· 1 cup milk

· ¼ cup butter

Frosting

· ¾ cup butter

· 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar

· 1 t vanilla

· ½ cup heavy cream

· 2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut

Directions

Butter and flour a 13” x 9” baking pan and set that aside.

In a bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and vanilla until it’s thick – maybe 5 minutes. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix again until everything is well combined, just a minute or two. Set aside.

Put the milk and butter into a small saucepan and heat until the butter melts and the mixture starts to boil. Make sure to stir consistently so that it doesn’t burn.

As soon as it boils, take it off the heat and add it to your batter mixture. Beat again until everything is well combined and then pour it into your prepared baking pan.

Bake the cake at 350 for about 35 minutes, or until the cake starts to brown along the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and sit the baking pan on a wire rack to cool.

While the cake is still warm, we’ll make the frosting. Turn the oven up to broil.

Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl and melt it. I’ve found the best way to do this is to turn the microwave onto defrost and just leave it in for a few seconds, then stir. You might have to do this a couple times, but the butter will melt quickly.

Add the brown sugar, vanilla and heavy cream and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Finally, add in the coconut, stir until it’s evenly distributed and pour the icing over the still-warm cake.

Put the cake back into the oven and broil it until the top is lightly browned, just a couple minutes. Be sure to watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. Take the cake out of the oven and put it back onto the wire rack to cool completely, and serve!