Yes it’s true! The easiest cake you’ll ever bake. No need for fussy measurements or recipe books, if you can count to four you can make this cake.
It was the first recipe I ever baked as a kid, and still make it occasionally now and then when unexpected visitors pop in.
It differs slightly than other 1234 cake recipes I’ve seen, as this one uses cream not butter.
A 300ml tub of thickened cream is the key! You just use the tub to measure out the other ingredients:
1 (300ml/10 oz) tub of thickened cream
2 tubs of sugar
3 tubs of SR flour
4 eggs
Wizz it all up in your mixer, it will make a large amount of quite a thick batter. Pour into a greased cake tin (2 regular sized ones or one roasting size tray)
In the oven at 180 ℃ (350℉). The time will depend on the size and shape of the tin, maybe 30-45 min or until a skewer comes out clean.
The lovely thing about this cake is you can get a little bit creative depending on what other ingredients you have on hand. I usually add a dash of vanilla extract for extra flavour and often I reduce the amount of sugar (it’s pretty sweet).
I’ve made two examples here, the top one had some apple slices laid on top, the bottom one was an attempt at a choc marble cake with cocoa mixed into half of the batter (left this one in the oven a little too long so it’s a tad brown).
Some other suggestions: add sultanas or candied fruit, add a mashed banana, some food colouring to make rainbow cake…I’d love to hear your ideas.
Now I can’t say this cake will win any awards. The recipe tends to result in a slightly crumbly cake that won’t win a purist over, but it’s tasty and easy and lots of fun to make.
Try it with the kids, I’m sure they’ll come up with a few interesting variations.