Nanny George's Hurry Up Cake

This is a Heritage recipe, passed down from my great grandmother, Annie Murphy, aka Nanny George. This recipe came from Ireland, when her family emigrated to Canada in the 1880s. My mother made this often.


This recipe is easy to cut in half. I am putting the original quantities. Turn oven on to 350*F.

What you need: 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 cup hot milk, 4 Tbs melted butter, 2 tsp vanilla, and 2 tsp salt -( I have been known to reduce this to 1 1/2 tsp.) for topping: 1/2 cup grated coconut, 3 Tbs brown sugar, 3 Tbs melted butter, and 2 Tbs cream.

What you do: In a large bowl, beat eggs well, then add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. (The original says to sift flour, salt and baking powder together, but I don't think modern flour needs sifting, so I usually skip that step). Add flour salt and baking powder to the bowl and fold together. Add liquids altogether. Pour into batter, and stir well.  Pour into a greased and floured 9x13" pan.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and turn on the broiler.
Cover cake with topping mixture, and place under broiler for a few minutes, just until the topping is browned and bubbling.  Cool 10 minutes in pan, then cut into squares.  Goes well with ice cream.

I have also used this cake as a base for shortbread desserts, or trifle.



For shortbread, cut baked cake in half top to bottom.  Cover bottom with whipped cream and fruit, then add top. Cover with whipped cream and fruit. As an option, you can mix 1/2 cup jam into the whipped cream for the filling layer.