Go Back

Lightning Cake

Anne Spencer's version of a classic Lightning Cake from the Boston Cooking-School Cookbook. Spencer quadrupled the original recipe to make the perfect amount for her family and friends.
Print Recipe
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 1 Cake

Equipment

  • 1 mixer
  • 2 layer cake pans
  • 1 oven

Ingredients
  

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 12 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350℉
  • Beat eggs and add sugar while beating
    4 eggs, 2 cups sugar
  • Add flour, sifted with baking powder and salt
    4 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
  • Add milk, melted butter, lemon extract and vanilla
    1 cup milk, 12 tbsp butter, melted, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Bake 25 minutes in oiled layer cake pans at 350℉
  • Put together with any desired filling and frost as desired

Notes

Note: The recipe here reflects Anne’s own adaptation, scaled up from the book’s original single-layer version to feed her many family members and guests. A simple buttercream frosting — made with confectioners’ sugar — was a popular early-20th-century choice, though not included in the original recipe.
Keyword Cake, Cake recipe, Dessert