I usually frost the cake right in the pan but you can double this recipe using two cake pans for a double-layer cake. Only line the pan with parchment if you plan to remove the cake from the pan. It’s best to have all your ingredients at room temperature and I highly recommend using a cake strip. Be sure to aerate your flour before measuring.- Jenny Jones
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Makes: 8 servings
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup sugar (the recipe also works using 2/3 cup sugar)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup milk (low fat or whole milk)
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Grease an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan.
- With an electric mixer on high, beat sugar, eggs, & vanilla for one minute to thicken.
- On low speed add remaining ingredients (in the order listed) but do not over-mix. This should take less than a minute.
- Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I like to frost it with my 2-minute chocolate frosting.
Salt: Based on some comments, I added salt (optional) to my recipe. Use a pinch up to 1/4 teaspoon although I make mine without salt.
A cake strip will keep the edges from over baking and will keep the cake from being domed or rounded in the center. For info on cake strips click here.
For more on this recipe in my blog click here.
Thank you!
This is the perfect recipe for a simple yellow cake -or- as a base cake for many other creations!!
It has become my favorite. I can use GF flour with great success. I have shared this recipe.
I follow your directions exactly to get amazing results!
I made this (after dinner dessert), used 1/2 cup Splenda, Lemon flavor and home made frosting (cocoa powder & heavy whipping cream) plus blackberries/blueberries on the side…. So Easy So Good!!
Great recipe. I used 2/3 cup Stevia and skim milk and it is light and moist. I made the mistake of turning it out on a plate with the soft side up and frosting it with a premade frosting. Didn’t work very well. So recommend frosting it in the pan. Will try some of the other suggestions with fruit.
This is my go-to recipe for an iron skillet pineapple upside down cake. Thanks for the recipe.
Do you use pineapple juice instead of the milk? Thank you 😊
Just made it. Very happy with it. I live at high altitude. The only thing I subbed was melted butter for the canola. Rose perfectly, nice moist crumb, rich flavor. Easy and great if you need something quick to go with berries. Very versatile. A new go to. Thanks!
Sounds like you used artificially flavored vanilla. Did you sub in margarine or use some
different type of oil?
Just made this. Will definitely be my go to recipe. Added cinnamon and sugar to the top. So good. Not to crumbly, not dry. Amazing. 🤗
Used Almond Milk and the 2/3 cup sugar no salt Iced with PB Frosting was deliciouz and so easy to make
This cake is amazing! I used almond milk instead of regular milk and oh my it didn’t last long in our home. Thank you!!!
This is disgusting. Somehow it turns out both too spongey yet too crumbly at the same time. Batter has the taste of wallpaper paste. It’s just terrible.
I just got done making this cake to use for strawberry shortcake. It is the first “from scratch” yellow cake that I have made that actually turns out! The flavor is great, the texture wonderful! I put it in a 9″ round metal pan and only had to bake it for 25 minutes. I omitted the oil and used applesauce instead, as I have to watch my fat intake. Sometimes that can make a cake more heavy – not this time! This recipe is a keeper.
Nice little cake. Swirled some leftover apple pie filling through so had to add about 10 minutes to baking time, otherwise everything else the same. Will use this recipe again!
Absolutely love, love,love. I swirl jam through it before baking or add other flavoring such as lemon, orange, or maple. Great with whip cream and berries.
I love the simplicity of this recipe. So delicious I paired it with berries and cream.
This recipe came out wonderfully. I used the 2/3 c sugar w/o salt adaptation. Then I topped it with coffee icing! Yummy!
Coffee icing. What is that?! 😃✍🤓☕️
Yes, do tell… How do u make it, the icing w the coffee? Please 😊😁
When I make coffee frosting, I make a basic butter cream and add some coffee crystals. I won’t drink instant coffee, but it can’t be beat in things like frosting when you don’t want the extra liquid.
How much regular coffee do you add? Thanks Kathie
I have made this,but did it as an orange poke jello cake,with homemade butter cream
I love this cake. I’ve made it plain. I’ve made pineapple upside down with it. I’ve made banana upside down cake .I’ve made a berry upside down cake and they were all delicious thank you for the recipe
My mother made a delicious peach upside-down cake with a one egg recipe. Hers is lost and this looks like a good substitute.
I’m not much of a baker but I love this recipe it came out wonderful thank you
it looked so good
I made this recipe this morning. It was quick, easy and delicious. I did include the salt as it enhances the taste of the cake, especially being a plain yellow one. I also used a baking strip as this enables cake to be even, uncracked and not burnt around the edges.
Thanks for a great recipe🙂🙂
Yum! Today I made a half recipe with the reduced sugar and included the salt. I got six delicious cupcakes (took 15 mins to bake). Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s a keeper!
I would like to let you know that I have tried this recipe with your two minute chocolate frosting, and I must say that it pairs up perfectly. The cake is very delicious. Thank you. This will be one of my quick cake go to recipe. Thanks again for making it available to me.
Can you use half oil and half apple sauce!
I’ve made this cake a few times now and it’s always great. Very forgiving of the type of oil/fat used. Thanks for the recipe! The only think I would note is that I use much more vanilla extract (double) and sometimes a bit of cinnamon to liven it up based on what is being served with. I also do add the salt.
I use cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice mix! This is my first time making it so fingers crossed!
I love this cake and have made it many times. I top it the inverted cake with homemade jam (just enough to coat) while the cake is still a little warm, then add shredded coconut.
Topped it with diced walnuts and cinnamon sugar before baking. Yum!
Sorry to say it wasn’t anything to write home about. Came out dry. The flavor was like a pancake.
I have made this cake many times. It is a winner.
Can butter be used instead of oil?
I’m baking it now. My husband diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I can save money by baking this rather than buying mix. I substituted Stevia in place of the sugar. If this works I see me making lemon and other flavors.
How did it turn out with the Stevia? Did you keep everything else the same?
did the cake turn out made with stevia,
Can I bake this in a 6 cup Nordic bundt cake pan?
made a single layer yellow cake, it was very dense too solid, did not care for recipe.
Hello do you know what you can do the one and a quarter cup of flour measure it into grams and it will be much less flour it will make a difference One cup of flour is not the same in cup and in grams I now learn to measure flour in grams
If dense and heavy would be perfect to add glace cherries and almond flavoring and turn it into a cherry Madeira cake!
This is still my go-to cake. So easy and simple. Jenny, hope you and yours are safe and well.
Love this recipe, I keep coming back to it. I find it perfect for when we need a quick snack or a great birthday cake. Perfect recipe thank you so much😊
It worked!! Coconut Oil does work. After it slightly cooled I took it out of the cake pan and it will be a go for me if I don’t have any oil.
I took mine hot and ready out of the oven just now!! Once it slightly cools I will take it out of the pan and see if it falls apart. ( Second time using coconut oil!!)
I have made this cake so many times my family loved it!! Almost every time I bake they ask if I could make it. It is amazing and in my family it is gone in JUST one day. This recipe is a family treat and is most recommend to make. Round of applause for Jenny. It is very fresh, and wonderful! I recommend for you guys not to put frosting on the cake because it is perfectly fine how it is but its totally up to you right? If I don’t have vegetable oil I use butter, melted and cooled completely. I have tried coconut oil but it did not work as good your cake will fall apart. But I am going to make it again today and try coconut oil again to see how it turns out on my second try with coconut oil. Again this recipe is fantastic and you should definitely give it a try!!
Thanks Jenny.
Thanks for a great recipe! I followed the directions exactly and, while I was surprised there was no butter, it turned out to be perfect. Serving with strawberries tonight!
Made this today to serve with fresh strawberries for dessert tonight and only put in 1/2 c of sugar and 1/4 c of oil ( extra light olive oil). No salt. So pleased, as not only is the cake tender and moist, but delicious as well. It will be my ‘go to’ cake recipe from now own. I followed the rest of the instructions exactly. Thank you Jenny.
Just made this to eat with fresh strawberries. Definitely will be making again. So good
Thanks for such an easy homemade cake recipe
GREAT RECIPE! YUMMMMY! EASY. Made lemon icing using Country Time Lemonade with cool whip. Perfect for after dinner cupcakes.
Thank you Jenny! This is the best cake for us. No frosting needed. Made this countless times. Even with getting distracted and adding ingredients out of order, this cake delights.
Thanks for leaving the website up. Many happy and blessed years to you and yours!
YES!! No frosting needed and is a very tasty recipe!
Just pulled it out of the oven and it is gorgeous. It is cooling and I’m going to do my own chocolate whipped frosting. This cake is for my S/O.
Made this at Easter to use up some frosting. It is delicious. Highly recommend it.
Also makes a dozen cupcakes! Reduce baking time to 16-18 minutes, yum!
Im going to make this right when i get back from school I love to bake.
What is a cake stripper?
Please use the link I provided.
I want to bake this cake tonight for supper, but have never heard of a cake-
Stripper , could you please explain, dear?
Thank you so much.
Please use the link in the recipe about cake strips.
This cake was so easy and so yummy. I only used 2/3 cup sugar as I was using the cake for strawberry shortcake. I did have to bake it for more like 35 minutes but it turned out perfect. Definitely a keeper!
My daughter had to make a dessert for a school project. This was the perfect difficulty for her. I didn’t have any milk though so we used coconut milk. Also, she put sprinkles inside the batter. The cake is soooo delicious. I will be using this recipe again. Thank you!!!
Hi all,
Needed a quick cake for just the two of us and thought this would be the perfect size. My cake has been in the over for over an hour! The outside is beautifully browned, sort of crunchy like the top of an angel food cake, but the inside is still runny. What in the heck did I do? I thought I had followed the directions very carefully. And no, it’s not my oven. I have calibrated the temperature earlier and it is accurate.
Thanks!
i miss read the baking powder and did 1 and 1\4 cup my cake exploded in the oven. not a good start to my baking skills
It’s okay. We all make mistakes. I once thought a container of salt was sugar . . . It was the saltiest cake ever.
Me too. Salt and sugar look the same. In my cake it said to add two cups of sugar. I forgot to add labels to my salt and sugar and my cupcakes were sooooooo salty!! I did not know until I offered my friend one and she said that she would eat it later but when she took a bite her face was saying it was bad from what I could see. I took a bite of a cookie and said to her ” No need to eat it later I will get something else” . And it was her Birthday so I called someone to make a special cake and I went to pick it up. The rest of the day was amazing.
As fast/easy as it is delicious – I’m a pretty seasoned baker and this cake is a winner. Can be easily dolled up, too – I use both almond and vanilla extract, pull out some leftover icing from the freezer or slice it in half and spread the middle with lemon curd. And the size is perfect for a small family (sometimes a double layer cake is just too much). Thank you Jenny!
ALL I CAN SAY IS MMMMMMM‼️
For the naysayers: I am no baker. I read the good and bad reviews. The bad reviewers are doing something wrong! I followed the recipe as written, I even made the mistake of accidentally adding the vanilla to the dry ingredients instead of the wet. I made sure I did not beat the cake mix over 1 min. I greased the pan with coconut oil. I did take the advice of one writer and added an extra tablespoon of vanilla. It cooked exactly 30 min. In a round glass cake pan. It is perfect! The texture is like my Bundt cake I make when I add a pudding mix to it. It’s firm but soft. And very sweet and it tastes like actual cake! I’m going to try adding other flavors besides vanilla in the future. Like lemon or almond, or butterscotch, just for fun. Maybe I’ll even add butter! But I did not have butter today so I went looking for an easy recipe for cake from scratch without butter. So, whoever you are…. those that are saying it came out wrong….. I don’t know what you’re doing, but you are definitely not going by the directions. Or, as one person said, maybe your baking powder is old and not working. Also, you do know if you use baking powder, you have to bake whatever it is you’re baking right away otherwise the powder loses its efficacy. Anyway…. I just had to respond. I don’t know Jenny…. and never have been on her site until yesterday. I was concerned because of the few negative reviews, but I took the chance and followed the directions specifically…. do NOT overbeat the cake batter!!! I made a great little quick homemade desert, without butter!
I followed the directions and it was perfect. My husband is temporarily on a low salt diet so I used no salt. He still loved it!
This recipe is the best. I used buttermilk though and that cake is out of this world!! Oh my!!!!!
I hate baking, but need something sweet and easy now and then. This was perfect, and came out great!! Thank you so much!!
Made this lovely cake…again…but this time added the seat of one lemon and a cup of blueberries. Frosted with a cream cheese and lemon buttercream. Oh my goodness! It is wonderful!
can you use a normal rectangle pan for this rescipe
yes, but make sure it is the same size
Just used a rectangle 8 in pan. Worked just fine, cake really good, made the chocolate icing, very good.
Absolutely delicious cake! Super quick and easy….and it turns out perfectly every time.
Yes it does!! Just maybe not with coconut oil I will try doing it again with coconut oil tonight!!
The cake came out wonderfully very nice recipe
First time I made the cake it turned out heavy and dense. I bought new baking powder, remade it and it turned out perfectly! I’m not a big baker so my baking powder must sit around for a while… I wasn’t even aware baking powder had an expiry date. If yours doesn’t turn out perfectly may I suggest checking your baking powder expiry date?
This was super helpful. Thank you 😊
Hello Jenny. I have tried many of your recipes, and I love everything I’ve made so far. Please continue to share more recipes with us. I love your videos!
hmm i made this today. great to curb sweet cravings around the house, my cake came out a bit dense. maybe an error on my part.
Made this to put over my butter, brown sugar, and pineapple mixture! Made a beautiful pineapple upside down cake. Use a 10” skillet as the pineapple mixture takes extra room. Came out perfect!
I loved this cake! So light and spongy soft. Not too sweet so it was a nice contrast to the chocolate frosting. Yum!
I love this simple recipe for a delicious healthier alternative sweet snack.
I Do not recommend. It’s heavy and coarse.
Sometimes using a “spoon and level” method when measuring the flour gives better results.
I made this cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday. We warmed up some homemade cherry jam to drizzle on top. It was absolutely delicious. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Easy to follow instructions and easy to bake!
I followed your recipe exactly as you said. It came out light and fluffy, the best recipe I’ve found so far. I will have to try your others.
I have loved baking cakes since my childhood. Unfortunately, my hubby prefers pies to cakes, so it isn’t as much fun to bake for him. However, when he tasted this yellow cake, he declared it was BETTER THAN PIE. He kept sneaking slices throughout the night, and when I woke up the next morning, the cake was 3/4 gone. He sheepishly looked at me and said: I guess a mouse got into it. Hahaha??. He can’t wait for me to make it again. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jenny. This one is a keeper, even without the icing.
I put this comment in as an answer to someone else who’s recipe did not turn out. I baked it last night, and it was heavy and dense, like the other commenter’s result.
I can only assume that most people commenting on here do not know what cake is supposed to taste like–as with people who think Olive Garden is good Italian food ??.
Anyway, I really wish I had noticed the website owner abandoned her work and is no longer offering help. I wasted ingredients, and I’ve never had trouble with my baking.
The thing to do, deary, when you no longer have time to maintain a website is to Take the Website Down, obviously. ?
I’ve been kind of busy, focusing on my philanthropy during the Christmas holidays as so many people are struggling. I hope to be able to answer more questions next month but I will not be taking my website down. This is who I am: https://www.jennycancook.com/about-me/
Thx You… I really enjoy your website and find it useful when I need just an idea for something to cook… keep up the great work Jenny lot of fans out here
Love your videos and your recipes! Thank you!
And we all love you just as you are!!! Your cakes are fabulous!!! Thank you dearly for your recipes!!!❤❤❤
Thank you Jenny for every recipe you publish and for calming our fears of losing your website! So happy to hear you say you WILL NOT be taking down the site.
I love your recipes and videos! Keep up the delicious work and know you are appreciated!
I am happy to hear you will not take your website down. Also, kudos to you for helping those in need during the pandemic.
You be you!
I spent this afternoon pouring through your videos and look forward to making the filled donuts, which is something my late mother made on Shrove Tuesday.
Thank you for proving healthier options for family traditions. Be well and safe, thank you for helping many!
You really don’t need to insult others to express your discontent. To each his (or her) own.
Jenny: Love your website AND your recipes AND your cute videos!!!
Please try and aerate flour like she shows. It really will make a difference in the cake. That and if you over mix or stir as she mentions can make a difference too. Aeration of flour is important as are are using correct measuring cups. One type for liquids and one for solids. She ponts this out too.
Karen, Karen. Need I say more.
easy recipe. i used it as the batter for a pear upside down cake: i used a bunch of almond extract in the batter; in a cast iron skillet lightly browned two pears cut into eighths in butter and brown sugar; pour over the batter (i used a bit more milk to make it more fluid) and baked for about 30 mins. magnificent.
Easy recipe ,tastes great and the perfect size.
I’d love some advice from you Jenny. I made this cake twice and both times it was dry , tasteless and dense. I did everything according to your instructions. I’m not a professional cook but I love cooking and baking and I’m normally successful with most dishes and I’ve never had a problem with any of your recipes but this one was a failure for me. I can’t understand how some people had a great experience and others didn’t. Am I missing something?
I just made this cake and had a similar issue. In my case the cake was “dense” rather than light and fluffy as cake is supposed to be. Very heavy and course.
I think part of it might be it calls for two eggs, which is a lot for a single layer. That might have added too much moisture.
Also, and I am going to put this comment in directly, I had noticed she did not reply to your comment. When I went in to answer you I saw that she is no longer replying supposedly due to Covid-19 and “so many people cooking “, lol. One hopes when a website is started that many people use it. I wish I had noticed how lame this website was before I wasted ingredients.