The 1-2-3-4 Cake Formula Makes Baking From Scratch Incredibly Easy

With the affordable and wide variety of boxed cake options available these days, reaching for Betty Crocker can be automatic when you are pressed for time. And though there are many ways to upgrade your boxed cake mix and make it taste like it's homemade, ultimately it will never compare to something that's been made from scratch. Enter the classic 1-2-3-4 cake; named so because of the proportion of its main ingredients: one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs. 

The ridiculously easy cake recipe reaches back to more than 100 years ago and it's made by mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately, then combining them and baking. The process couldn't be easier, and the result is a dense, sweet cake with wide appeal. It's ideal for events where you need to feed a lot of people on a budget and want to keep it delicious but basic. The next time you find yourself busting out the cake mix, consider trying a 1-2-3-4 cake instead. It's just as easy as using a box, except you will retain the bragging rights that it was truly homemade. 

The majority of 1-2-3-4 recipes call for cake flour, and though cake flour may work better for this cake, it really is a matter of personal preference. Cake flour will give a softer, more crumbly texture due to its lower protein content and softer wheat, whereas all purpose flour will give a bit more structure and density, making your cake taste more like a pound cake. If you want the lighter texture of cake flour but only have all purpose in the pantry, it's easy to make a cake flour substitute by adding a little cornstarch to your all purpose flour. 

Whatever flour you use, the best thing about this cake is that it is a blank slate. You can keep it simple and serve it as it is with a basic chocolate or vanilla frosting, or deck it out in whatever way you want. Popular variations include making it a lemon zest cake, cross sectioning it, and filling it with custard, or simply serving it with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, some berries, and whipped cream.