The Ultimate Customizable Everyday Cake Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Smaug August 29, 2023

I used this as a base for a pineapple upside down cake (it's really not much different from what I usually use). I added some nutmeg and cinnamon, subbed lemon juice and whole milk for the buttermilk (frozen pineapple, so I didn't have any juice), and orange oil for the vanilla. I made 1/2 recipe in a 7" springform- this is almost exactly 1/2 the size of a 9" square. A 10" round, by the way, is nearly the same area as a 9" square and would make a more equitable substitution- a 9" round will be quite a bit thicker and take longer to bake.
The volume measurements are fine; since 90% of recipes out there are written this way people should learn to use them (it's not hard), and anyway people should write recipes the way they make them- if you can't deal with the volumes, there are plenty of conversion tables available.

Finally tried this one. Prepared exactly as written in a 9” round pan. Lovely crumb, almost crunchy top crust, nice vanilla flavor, but so very sweet. Served it with sweetened organic raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and vanilla ice cream. Unsweetened berries and unsweetened cream would be a better compliment. Would try it again, reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup, though I wonder if this would eliminate the crunchy crust? Wrapped in plastic it keeps well on the kitchen counter for three days and counting. Is a high sugar to flour ratio a secret cake preservative?

I made this tonight with these modifications. Grated fresh ginger into the butter/sugar mixture, as well as grated lemon rind from two lemons. Baked in a long, narrow loaf pan I bought in Paris. Needed about 50 mins in my oven, checking for doneness every five minutes with cake tester beginning at 40 mins. Immediately after removing from the oven, I poked holes in the cake and brushed with the juice from above-mentioned lemons combined with some agave syrup. I removed the cake from the pan after 10-15 mins, and coated sides with the rest of the sweet lemon juice. Served with whipped cream. Delicious and delicate crumb. The five minutes of beating sugar and butter really makes the difference in this cake.

I have used this base recipe for so many spin off flavors and experiments, too. It's a great, safe cake for successful customization.

SCM April 11, 2018

This is a great cake and I had lost the recipe and kept searching on the Food52 site for a "versatile" cake not customizable. Also searched for yellow cake, vanilla cake, sponge cake...and it never came up. Please include it on at least the yellow cake search.

Yes, metric weights please!

A lovely and delicious cake.

A lovely and delicious cake.

My spin- added 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and the zest from one orange. Topped with orange glaze (powdered sugar & orange juice) and toasted almonds. This is a great size cake- small enough for a casual cake.

I made it. Wonderful. Now roasting strawberries to accompany the delish cake.

I agree with Jerald's request. Metric weights would be very helpful in baking recipes and make for more consistent results. I'm celiac and am often converting recipes for use with various gluten-free flours, and knowing the initial metric weights of the regular (non-GF) flours is absolutely critical for a good result. I'm a big fan of Food 52 (and still wish your shop shippied to Canada) and having the metric weights on baking ingredients would put mh admiration over the top1 :-)

Would the author please provide metric weight version for this recipe? It would be fantastic if Food52 provided metric weights for all its recipes, especially baked goods.