My family loves dessert, which I suppose is partly my fault since baking is one of my favorite hobbies. While I have a handful of recipes I enjoy making, I’m always open to trying something new, especially retro desserts, which seem to be making a comeback. The most recent recipe in my queue was for something called Lazy Daisy Cake. It has a cute name, sure, but is it any good? I headed to the kitchen to find out.
What Is Lazy Daisy Cake?
Lazy Daisy Cake is a basic yellow cake covered with a broiled brown sugar and coconut topping. It gained popularity in the 1930s when Snowdrift Shortening published a version of the recipe in a cookbook designed to promote their brand and products. Some years later, Quaker Oats introduced an oat version, which was similarly featured on packaging for advertising purposes.
The story goes that the cake was most likely given its name because it was easy to make and used readily available and inexpensive ingredients, like sugar and flour. It also requires only two eggs and less butter than most cakes, so it remains as budget-friendly as it was when it was first introduced.
Allrecipes/Sara Haas
Interestingly, this cake is very similar to a traditional Danish cake called drømmekage, which translates to dream cake. Much like Lazy Daisy Cake, drømmekage features a hot milk sponge with a distinct caramelized brown sugar and coconut layer.
How To Make Lazy Daisy Cake
While there are several recipes for Lazy Daisy Cake, many of them start the same way: beating eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Next, flour, baking soda, and salt are added, then scalded milk and melted butter. Once combined, it’s poured into a 9-inch baking pan and baked until fully cooked and golden.
While the cake is still warm, prepare the topping by combining melted butter with brown sugar, heavy cream, and shredded coconut. That gets poured over the top and then broiled for a few short minutes to create a gooey, caramelized frosting.
How Does Lazy Daisy Cake Taste?
For me, this cake is all about the topping. The yellow cake underneath is rather bland and boring, but the brown-sugar coconut topping is fantastic! The slight caramelization that occurs under the broiler adds a delicious, buttery, nutty vibe that pairs wonderfully with the coconut. It’s perhaps why some reviews of the recipe encouraged doubling the topping—I think they’re on to something.
Final Thoughts
I love the simplicity of the recipe and that most of the ingredients are kitchen staples, so I didn’t need to buy much to make it. While I found the cake flavor underwhelming, I’m sure it could be improved with a bit of spice (other Lazy Daisy Cake recipes include spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom) or more vanilla extract. Perhaps doubling the topping could make me forget the cake altogether. Bottom line, it’s a fun recipe that’s easy to make and definitely worth a try.
