Keep it simple. It’s a wonderful life lesson that can also be applied to baking. Although cakes that take hours to prepare and lots of dishes to create can be worth the time and effort, there’s no point to them if they never get made. The “one day I’ll have the time to try that recipe” cakes have their place, but I guarantee that this one will get made again and again. And nobody will know that it’s a dump and stir recipe. It’s just as easy as a cake mix, but without all the chemicals.

This recipe comes from Piece of Cake, a book devoted entirely to one-bowl recipes. The only change I made was to pair it down from the original 9-inch variety to a 7-inch layer cake. For me, 7-inch cakes are the perfect size, since they don’t look diminutive, but aren’t too overwhelming for a small gathering. Plus, I just don’t get enough use out of my 7-inch pans.

The vanilla cake recipes on this blog are piling up, mostly due to my slight obsession to find the perfect one. If you’ve never made a cake from scratch before, this is a great recipe to begin with. It’s almost foolproof, and frosting is also really quick and easy. Neither the cake nor the frosting require a stand mixer.

Read The Post