Recipe for “Busy Day Cake”

(adapted from a childhood favorite in Better Homes & Gardens)

Great for cupcakes, too!

This recipe makes one 9x9-inch pan (or 12 cupcakes); I usually double the recipe and bake it in a 13x9-inch pan (or as 24 cupcakes).

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour *

½ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¾ cup milk

⅓ cup oil

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and lightly flour a 9x9-inch baking pan (or line muffin pans with paper liners).

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, egg, and vanilla; beat with electric mixer until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until combined, then beat an additional two minutes on medium speed. Turn batter into prepared baking pan (or spoon batter into muffin cups).

Bake cake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven. (For cupcakes, bake 15 to 20 minutes.) Cake is done when it springs back to the touch (or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean).

Spice it up by adding (blueberry) jam (as pictured above)! Pour only half of the batter into the baking pan, spoon jam onto it, then spoon remaining batter on top, and sprinkle sugar on top of it all. Then bake as directed.

Enjoy!

*Make your own cake flour by replacing 2 Tbsp of cornstarch in 1 cup of all-purpose flour!