This gorgeous cake oozes retro charm. It tells me what old fashioned cakes would be all about. Mind you, I am not that old. But this is how I imagine cakes in an old kitchen with yellow countertops and lace doilies to be like. Simple, unpretentious, golden and crumbly. Textural, pretty and brave enough on its own without needing the support of icing or fancy trimmings.

 

"There was always a cake in the oven on Sunday mornings!" waxes Margaret Dunn in her cookbook Mrs. Harvey's Sister-In-Law And Other Tasty Dishes (read cookbook review). She later goes on to wonder in amazement how a cake managed to get in the oven on a Sunday amidst a flurry of roasts, vegetables and puddings that were also cooked in there. I would like to think that ours is one of those households where there is a cake in the oven every Sunday morning. Nothing beats the smell of a cake warming up and swelling beautifully in a hot oven.

 

Daisy Cake features in this beautiful cookbook. It gets its name from the combination of white and yellow. Just like a daisy, the top is white and the insides are yellow. It is a very pretty cake. It is what home-made cakes are supposed to be. It is what I bake every other Sunday come rain or shine. It is lovely if topped with warm butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. It is even better unadorned - simple.

 

 

Recipe

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DAISY CAKE

5 from 1 vote
Recipe adapted from Margaret Dunn’s Mrs. Harvey’s Sister-In-Law And Other Tasty Dishes
Print Recipe Rate / Comment
Author: Sneh
Course // Baking, Cake, Sweet
Cuisine // Australian, Modern Australian, Nut Free, Vegetarian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 cup self-raising flour
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • grated rind of 1 orange
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 1 extra tablespoon caster sugar, for topping
  • 1/2 cup desiccated coconut, for topping

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Grease and dust with flour an 8-inch round springform tin.
  • Beat the butter and raw sugar until creamy. Add the egg yolks and beat for a minute. Add the flour, milk, vanilla, rind and juice. Beat until combined and smooth. Spoon batter into prepared tin.
  • Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth. Add 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and beat again until foamy. Fold through the coconut. Spread this mixture over the top of the cake batter and bake for approximately 45 minutes until golden and cooked through.
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