Lane Cake
This vegetarian builds chopped pecans, raisins and sweetened shredded coconut into a fuss-free meal you can have ready in about 70 minutes. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and saucepan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (4)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 175C (350F) and grease and line two 20 cm (8 inch) round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Cream the softened butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy, then whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in a separate bowl and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the creamed butter alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour, and stir in the vanilla.
- Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter in three additions to keep it light, then divide between the pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean; cool completely.
- For the filling, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar in a heavy saucepan, add a knob of butter and cook gently over low to medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and the custard reaches 71C (160F) so the yolks are safely cooked.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped pecans, raisins, coconut and bourbon, then let the filling cool until spreadable.
- Spread the filling generously between the two cake layers and over the top, then let the cake stand a few hours or overnight for the flavors to meld before slicing.
You'll use: Oven · Saucepan · Pan · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
Tips & common questions
How long does Lane Cake take to make?
About 70 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 13 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Lane Cake vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Lane Cake is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Slice of lane cake.jpg by Eunice, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.