When I come up with different recipes, they’re usually jotted down on a piece of paper that floats around my kitchen and office space with numerous edits scrawled on it…Until I get the recipe right and transfer it to another piece of paper that floats around for a bit until I file it away in my recipe book.

This recipe is actually written on a Post-It Note with just a list of ingredients. I’ve given myself so many heart attacks thinking I’ve lost it, but somehow it always comes back. Since starting this food blog, I figured this was the best place to keep the recipe safe from being lost or accidentally tossed out.

The recipe for this cake is so easy and quick to make that you’ll spend more time measuring out the ingredients than actually mixing the batter. And the best part is that it’s totally easy to customize to your tastes! Maybe you like a specific type of fruit preserves or maybe you have some that you need to use up fast – this is the recipe for that. And if you don’t have preserves around? Jam will work just fine. For this batch, I used up my homemade apricot preserves since I had some hanging out in a jar that needed to be used up.

Shockingly, there is no butter in the cake – just canola oil for fat, milk for moisture, and an egg!

You start by mixing sugar and canola oil together until it looks like wet sand. Then you whisk in an egg until the mixture thickens up. Stir in salt, baking powder, and vanilla before mixing the milk in to dissolve everything. It’s going to seem weird and really runny, but that’s okay because once everything is dissolved into the milk, you add in the flour.

Once the flour is fully whisked in, you’re left with a batter that is smooth and flows easily, but thick enough to hold up fruit preserves. This is when you add that in, folding it into the batter until just incorporated.

Pour the lovely batter into your greased pan. Again, the consistency of this batter is loose enough to where you shouldn’t have to smooth it out for an even surface – it should do that on its own. And now, the hard part…Waiting nearly an hour for it to bake.

But it’s so worth it! See? Even the rabbits on my plate are rushing to get a bite of it…Once it’s done, you’re left with a nice, crumbly, moist cake with just enough of a hint of the preserves that you mixed into it. The cake isn’t overly sweet, so you can top it with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar if you want or even a dollop of whipped cream! Perfect for breakfast or dessert or snack or anytime you want cake in your mouth.

PIXIE’S FRUIT PRESERVES CAKE

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup white sugar
• ¼ cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ cup milk (whole or 2%)
• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup fruit preserves (or jam)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare your 8×8 or 9×8 baking dish with non-stick spray or by greasing with butter and dusting with flour.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil, whisking together until it has the consistency of wet sand.
3. Whisk in the egg using brisk movements for at least two minutes until mixture thickens and turns a pale yellow color.
4. Stir in vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder until combined.
5. Whisk in milk, making sure to dissolve the sugar mixture completely. At this point, the batter will be very runny and bubbles will have formed. Wait a few moments for the bubbles to lessen.
6. Add flour in three batches, whisking and mixing completely to ensure there are no lumps in the batter.
7. Fold in fruit preserves until just combined. You don’t want to over mix the batter and bigger clumps of the preserves is a-okay!
8. Pour the batter into your greased and prepared pan, letting it sit for a few moments until the top is even and level.
9. Bake for 45-55 minutes. When the cake is done, it will be a deep, golden brown color with a large crack or two along the top. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs or clean. If cake is still not done after 55 minutes, bake at 6 minute intervals until fully cooked.
10. Take cake out of oven and let sit in pan for at least 30 minutes before serving.

The recipe can easily be doubled to fill a 9×13 pan. Enjoy!