Lazy Daisy Cake – Light, moist vanilla cake topped with a broiled brown sugar coconut icing. Time-tested family recipe.
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My friend Kelly Jaggers is back with another wonderful family recipe! Her nostalgic memories behind this recipe, beautifully expressed, make it taste even sweeter.  ~ Tori
My Aunt Ruby had a habit of tucking important bits of information into containers stashed around her house. Once when I was visiting I wanted to make a glass of chocolate milk. I got the chocolate powder from her pantry and imagine my surprise when I found not chocolate milk mix but money! She was raised during the great depression. While she had a bank account, she never kept all her money there. You never knew, did you?
One afternoon a few years before she passed away Ruby and I were sitting in her kitchen when I started nosing around her kitchen looking for recipes. Ruby was a keen recipe collector. She would copy down recipes onto pale blue recipe cards and store them in a variety of metal recipe boxes around her kitchen. She invited me to copy down any that caught my eye, knowing how much I love to cook. There were recipes she has copied out of the newspaper and magazines, some were recipes from friends, and others were of her own invention.
One thing I noticed about Ruby’s recipes is they often did not contain specific directions about oven temperatures and baking times. This is a common problem with recipes that are passed down in my family. The cook knew the details and just used the card to remind her of the measurements. If there is a method listed, it is often a little sketchy, with just a brief note about how to mix something specific. Ruby had a mind like a steel trap, and she didn’t need the details on the recipes. I quizzed her about recipes that I wanted to have, and she knew without having to think too hard, what the times and temperatures were. She also gave me a few helpful hints that I jotted down. It was on this occasion that I copied down a 1940’s classic, Lazy Daisy Cake.
A few weeks later I made my first Lazy Daisy Cake. I followed Ruby’s directions to the letter and the result was scrumptious! The cake itself is light and moist with a pleasant vanilla flavor. The star is the frosting. It is similar in flavor to a praline, but closer in texture to the frosting on a German Chocolate Cake. I did a little research and found many variations on the Lazy Daisy Cake. Some contain oats, others have nuts or fruit. I like it just the way Ruby made it.
Ruby said that the Lazy Daisy Cake was a favorite of hers because it was so simple. The best part, she told me, was that this cake didn’t require any fancy decorating. Instead the frosting is warmed on the stove to melt the sugar, then it is spread over the just baked cake and broiled until deeply golden brown and thick. She told me that the trick to keeping the cake super moist was to broil the frosting when the cake was just baked through and golden around the edges, but not golden all over.
This cake would make an excellent hostess gift, or house warming gift as you serve it in the pan. Take over the cake and leave the baking dish or pan behind after the cake has been devoured. That was something Ruby suggested, actually. She loved to take a baked gift in a pretty pan, making it in essence two gifts in one. Who wouldn’t love that?
Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
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Lazy Daisy Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Icing Ingredients
- 9 tbsp packed light brown sugar
- 5 tbsp butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Notes
InstructionsÂ
- Heat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9x9-inch cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium saucepan over medium heat add the milk.Â
- Once the milk begins to simmer turn off the heat and add the tablespoon of butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool.Â
- In a medium bowl add the sugar, milk mixture, and eggs. Mix until well combined.Â
- Then add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until no large lumps remain, about 12 strokes.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the cake is just golden brown around the edges and the center of the cake springs back when gently pressed.Â
- While the cake bakes prepare the icing. In a medium saucepan combine the brown sugar, five tablespoons of butter, and cream.Â
- Cook the mixture over medium heat until it comes to a boil then turn off the heat and stir in the coconut.Â
- Once the cake has baked remove it from the oven and turn on the broiler. Spread the icing evenly over the cake, then place the cake under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, or until the icing is bubbling vigorously all over. Remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature in the pan before slicing and serving. Keeps for up to three days in an air tight container at room temperature.Â
Dee says
Yes I have tried it. It’s very spongy maybe because I used cane sugar instead of granulated sugar, unsalted butter and I had to use whole milk didn’t have any heavy cream. Other than that it is delicious. My mother made this cake for us when we were children she’s she’s going on to the eternal resting place… now so when I remembered the name and searched, the recipes coincided with the the recipe my mom used. Thank you so much really enjoyed, Tori.
Ron says
I was so delighted to find this recipe. This is identical to a cake my grandmother used to make when I was a small boy.. I will make this cake soon. I would cut of pieces so that the edges of the cake maintain a similar outline. The cake gradually shrinking over time. A wonderful memory from post WWII. Thanks!
Catherine Sarginson says
When I was 13 or 14 (in the early 60s)we were taught to makes this in Home Ec only they called it a Hot Milk Sponge cake with broiled icing. Always been a favourite of mine and I always ask for it as my birthday cake.
tom fafard says
I have been making this cake for years. In fact it is the first cake I ever made back in the 60’s. For me it was called Easy Toasted Coconut Cake. Good to see some of the history of it.
Curtis says
This is the same recipe I got from my Grandmother and I’ve been making it for decades. It’s so simple and delicious, thanks for the pleasant memory!
Rickie Orzen says
Hi Tori,
This was my mother’s favorite cake, too. But her frosting was slightly different.
2 T melted butter
1/3 c. brown sugar
2T milk , about
Bring to a boil. Spread onto warm cake and sprinkle with coconut before broiling.
Thanks for a wonderful reminder of this delicious dessert we had before cake mixes.
Rickie
Betty T. says
Can you substitute coconut oil for the butter and non-dairy milk to make this recipe pareve?
Tori Avey says
I think that would probably work, but we haven’t tested it so can’t say for certain.
Pam Knight says
This reminds me so much of my mother’s oatmeal cake she made when we were kids in the 60s. I still make it from time to time. The cake was a yellow cake with oatmeal and spices in it, and the topping was a boiled topping with brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts, and coconut. It, too, was finished under the broiler. I remember watching for the topping to start to bubble. Yum!
Abra says
This was so good! Glad I doubled the recipe as it was gobbled up in an hour. Look forward to making this repeatedly.
Debora says
So delicious lazy daisy cake. My mum used to make for us and have been looking a good recipe. Thank you!
Linda says
I love this cake! It’s perfect for any occasion. I always add more coconut that they call for – so much better.
Oliver Long says
Delicious, the cake is perfect, texture and sweetness. The topping is incredible, caramel coconut crunchiness. Simple to make and well worth the effort.
Sheila Kading says
I have been looking for this recipe for many years— my mother had a set of little paperback cookbooks from the 40s “100 ways to do “everything from eggs to cookies and cakes, meats etc. this was my favorite recipe, and that book was missing! So glad to see this. Exactly the same, will try it soon— the pan I used is gone, hope it is the same in my current bakeware. Thanks again for publishing this!
Phyl Smith says
Looks quite easy – definitely going to try it. Only problem is 1/2 the family doesn’t like coconut so I will leave it out and hope for the best – lol. Thanks for sharing …
carol ozero says
I have read somewhere that instead of coconut you could use walnuts. You could use have and half and half. My husband doesn’t like coconut either but he mlikes it on this cake
Sherry Juby says
Just like my Nan’s recipe that I make all the time. Funny how I just doubled the recipe today for a double batch to take to work tomorrow. Then low and behold I find your post. I find it actually better the next day when the topping turns almost fudgy…
Alene says
I am so trying this with gluten free flour. When it’s a cup or less of a.p. flour, there is a chance that gf flour might work. I am always looking for a snack cake. Just one tiny piece in the afternoon would do it!
Tori Avey says
I think that a cup-for-cup GF substitute should work just fine in this recipe. Enjoy!