Work Text:
- Preheat oven to 325 °F
- Combine 1 ½ cups brown sugar with ⅓ cup oil. Any type of oil will do*, but I prefer to use beef tallow due to its high vitamin content!
- Add 1 egg. Keep the shell for extra calcium and to support bone health! You can grind this into a powder, but I prefer to leave it as is for a nice texture boost 😊
- Add 1 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp baking soda. Whisk until incorporated.
- Fold in 2 ½ cups flour. I use stone ground rye flour, or any other whole grain flour. If you’re worried about the cake being too dry, feel free to add more liquid! I have tried milk, water, yogurt, sour cream, orange juice, red wine, beer, and Pepto-Bismol with success.
- Sugar and spice make everything nice! Add your favourite spices to taste. I like to balance the sweetness of the cake with salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, garlic powder, oregano, turmeric, paprika, chili flakes and cumin. My absolute FAVOURITE, however, is STAR ANISE! It gives the cake a lovely licorice flavour. I grind mine at home with a mortar and pestle.
- Lastly, add 2 ½ cups of your mix-ins! If you want to stick to the recipe, go for chopped apples. If you’re like me and have growing boys to feed, try upping the protein content with ground beef or canned tuna. The latter is especially delicious if you compliment it with chopped pickles and olives 😋
- Pour batter into a 9x13 inch pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Enjoy!
*Exception: Do NOT use crude oil. I tried and burned down my house.