Busy Day Cake

Name: Busy Day Cake
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar; ½ cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan; 3 large eggs, at room temperature; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups (about 8 ½ oz.) all-purpose flour; 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg; ¼ teaspoon table salt; ½ cup whole milk, at room temperature

3 Ratings
3 Reviews

This cake might sink a little in the center as it cools, so don't fret if that happens to you. We all deserve to have the simplicity of the Busy Day Cake in our repertoire. Everything about this cake is just right.

By Sheri Castle

Gallery

Credit: Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Erin Merhar; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee

Recipe Summary

bake:

30 mins

cool:

10 mins

total:

55 mins

active:

15 mins

Servings:

Ingredients

1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar
½ cup (4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (about 8 ½ oz.) all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon table salt
½ cup whole milk, at room temperature

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter a 9-inch square baking pan (at least 2 inches deep) or a 9-inch round cake pan (at least 2 inches deep).

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Step 2
Beat sugar and butter in bowl of a stand mixer fitted a paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
Step 3
Whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Add to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with one-third of the milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat on low speed until batter is smooth after each addition, scraping bowl to ensure all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
Step 4
Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. If the top browns too quickly before the cake is done, cover top with a sheet of aluminum foil. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan to wire rack, cut into squares, and serve warm.

Tips

This cake is also delicious served at room temperature. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap up to 2 days. Cake will be a little softer and more tender on the second day.

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Southern Living Member

01/22/2022

I followed the recipe closely and checked the cake at five minute intervals beginning at 30 minutes. After 45 minutes I decided to take the cake out. The entire middle of the cake was still raw. Not sure what happened. The cake was very tall so next time I bake this I will instead bake it into a 9 x 13 inch pan. We ate around the sides and the taste was lovely!

southernbakery

01/15/2022

This was a relatively easy cake to put together; single layer basic yellow cake with nutmeg and vanilla as the flavors. It baked beautifully to a golden brown and rose well. It smells wonderful baking. As a “busy day” cake it has no icing and might benefit from whipped cream and berries as one reviewer suggested or maybe a light glaze. That said, we sifted some powdered sugar over it and had a little whipped cream with it and found it to be a lovely busy day cake. The whipped cream goes wonderfully with the nutmeg. Perfect with tea in front of the fire waiting for a winter storm to arrive. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

homecookinggirl@yahoo.com

01/12/2022

This was a very easy and basic cake. Pretty quick to throw together and since it was in a small 8x8 pan, it got finished in no time. It was very basic and needs the whipped cream and berries on top. One of my family used caramel ice cream sauce and said that was a marvelous combo with the whipped cream.

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Busy Day Cake

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Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Directions

Tips

Reviews (3)

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Busy Day Cake

Gallery

Recipe Summary

Ingredients

Directions

Tips

Reviews (3)

All Reviews for Busy Day Cake