DO NOTHING CAKE – Old Fashioned Recipe
This Do Nothing Cake is a very old fashioned cake your family will love. This dessert gets its name because it originated in the 1940’s and recipes were usually made from scratch, had a lot of ingredients, and hard to make. This one is very easy, takes no time to throw it together, and is so delicious. You just mix this one with a spoon. It makes a great dessert to take to any event and is wonderful for any holiday gathering. You will get asked for the recipe over and over again and you won’t have any leftovers to take home. My family loves this cake and it is one of our favorites. You might also enjoy our recipe for this fabulous lemon cake.
Ingredients Needed for Do Nothing Cake:
All-purpose flour
Baking soda
Salt
White granulated sugar
Eggs
Vanilla extract
Crushed pineapple with juice (do not drain)
Frosting for cake:
Butter
White granulated sugar
Evaporated milk
Chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
Shredded coconut
Recipe Notes: The original recipe calls for 2 cups sugar in the cake. I use only 1 cup and the cake is plenty sweet. I also make my frosting with 1 1/2 cups coconut instead of just one.
If you don’t enjoy getting out the mixer to make a cake this is the one for you! You even add the frosting while the cake is still hot which is a huge time saver. This cake is perfect for when you need a quick and delicious dessert. I highly recommend this wonderful old fashioned recipe.
Recipe Comments: “I’m convinced this is the best cake on the planet! I rarely make any other dessert but this one. Thank you for sharing your recipes!”-Sharon
“I made this cake about 2 weeks ago for the first time. My husband said it’s probably his new favorite cake. We LOVED it!”-Brenda
If you like this cake, you may want to try the Elvis Presley Cake. It’s DELICIOUS!
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Do Nothing Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice (do not drain)
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 stick butter or 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup chopped nuts pecans or walnuts
- 1 cup shredded coconut
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla extract and pineapple. Stir with a spoon to combine all ingredients. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray and add batter. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 -35 minutes until the center tests done. Make frosting below and poke holes in hot cake with a wooden spoon.
Frosting Instructions:
- Bring butter, sugar and milk to a boil in a pan on top of the stove. Cook and stir about 3 minutes. Remove from stove and stir in nuts and coconut. Pour over hot cake.
Notes
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So easy. Love this recipe!
YAY!!
The Do Nothing Cake is also called a Texas Tornado Cake. It is so popular when l make it, often touted as the best ever tasted.
What changes do I make for high altitude?
I can’t advise Daryl, I have never lived in high altitude.
Do Nothing Cake
What a delicious, easy cake to make!! We live in Florida during the winter in a 55 and older community. I made this cake and shared it with quite a number of our neighbors. Everyone loved it! Several people have asked me for the recipe. It’s a keeper!!! Can’t wait to try it out on my kids and grandkids when we get home! Thank you so very much! ♥️♥️♥️
You are so welcome Sue Ann, glad to hear it was such a hit! We love this one too!
Can I use bread flour? That’s all I have.
I have never tried it that way but it may work.
So good! Will be making it again.
I’ve been making this cake for literally years! It’s so so so good, I have to make sure there will be people in my house before I make it. Otherwise it is not pretty lol
It’s a true winner. Oh yeah, a bit of shipped topping sends it over the top! Thank you!!
I’m not sure why my post isn’t here but I’ll try it again. I followed the recipe exactly as written. When I poured the frosting over the cake I could tell it was way too wet. After about an hour I tried it and it was very dense. And the frosting was way too sweet for me. I used shredded coconut. Not sweetened. Won’t be making this again.
Leslie, this cake has amazing reviews and has been a classic for many many years. This frosting is also very popular. The bottom line is you didn’t LIKE the recipe, which has nothing to do with the cake itself. We all have different taste, I have made many recipes I didn’t like as well. I just move on to the next one 🙂
Do you use sweet or unsweetened coconut? TIA
We use sweetened, you can use whichever you prefer.
are the coconut and pecans added to the icing before pouring on the cake? Or sprinkled, afterwards? Directions say mix then pour, but pictures look different…..
We mix them together like the directions say, we just sprinkled some on top for the photos.
Thank you for sharing the recipe and your awesome tips! I am going to make this cake as we are a family who loves pineapples, walnuts and coconut!! Just wondering if this can be made using a bundt pan? If so, any idea which size would work best? Thank you in advance!
Im sure you could make it in a bundt pan, I can’t say exactly the time, but it would be longer than the suggested time for a 9X13.
Super easy. The cake is so moist. Definitely only needs 1 cup of sugar. The topping is super sweet so next time I may try adding a tsp of fresh lemon juice to cut the sweetness a little. Delicious recipe, thank you!
Very good and very easy! I might try it using brown sugar in the cake instead of white to give it a slight caramel flavor that would pair well with the pineapple and might add some rum extract instead of vanilla as another comment suggested. When I made it I increased the salt to 1/4 teaspoon and also put the cake with topping under the broiler for a couple of minutes to toast the coconut and nuts.
This cake is very easy to make & delicious. I took it to work and everyone loved it.
Delicious! I made this in honor of my Aunt. She LOVED pineapple, coconut and pecans! Happy heavenly birthday! Thank you. I spread the love with next-door neighbor widow ladies and they loved it too. I did cut down the sugar in the cake to 1 cup and it was sweet enough.
Love the do nothing cake
Good recipe. I used 1 c sugar as suggested. It was plenty sweet. I changed up the flavoring a bit and added a splash of spiced dark rum and a tsp of rum flavor. Called it Pina Colada. Thanks for the recipe and the sugar tip!
I can’t try the recipe until I know whether to use sweetened or unsweetened coconut. I’m guessing unsweetened, since there is a fair amount of sugar in the frosting recipe. Please clarify. Thank-you!
We always use sweetened coconut, you can use whichever you prefer.
That do nothing cake could become my favorite too. Looking forward to making it.
This is hands down the absolute best non chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. So moist and flavorful and the pineapple is not overpowering. Even my picky granddaughter loved it. Very easy to throw together. I’ll be making this one again. Thank you for all of your old fashioned recipes.
That’s wonderful!! We’re thrilled you enjoyed this recipe. It’s one of our favorites.
This cake is always a hit when I take it anywhere. So simple to make and so delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Try Thai Kitchen Lite Coconut Milk for Evaporated Milk if you are dairy free.
What a fantastic idea, Lynna! I’m quite sensitive to dairy & unfortunately have to strictly avoid it, so this is a great idea! Think I’ll make it today!
I had rave reviews from everyone who ate this cake. I took a tip from the author and cut the sugar in the cake to 1 cup and I upped the coconut in the frosting. I mixed 2/3 sweetened coconut with 1/3 unsweetened. Most important, I toasted the coconut and walnuts before adding to the frosting.
I would love to try the Do NOthing Cake, but I am lactose intolerant. So wondered what I culd use instead of evaporated milk for the frosting
Made this yesterday to share with neighbors! WOW easy and delicious I followed the notes and reduced the sugar to 1 cup and added more coconut. Sadly my family are not coconut cake lovers. My friends and neighbors loved it. I will make for every luncheon and event, not family related
Oh my god. This cake is unbelievable. I did 3/4 cup sugar in the cake and 3/4 sugar in the frosting. I would still reduce further but holy macro. I could live off of this thing. Thank you for this amazing recipe!!
Love your recipes! Any adjustment for high altitude?
Thank you so much! We can’t advise on high altitude baking as we don’t live in high altitude. Thanks!
You can get High Altitude flour. Used it for years when living in Colorado,
I made this cake yesterday and it was good. Not too sweet either
How long should I wait after taking cake out of the oven to put the topping on the cake?
It states in the recipe to add the frosting to the cake when it is hot. Thanks!
This cake is a keeper! Do yourself a favor and make it just once, I’m willing to bet you’ll make it again, again & again. It’s easy, fast & delicious! Cannot say enough good things about this recipe.
Can I make the cake without the coconut in the frosting
You can always try it. I’ve only made the recipes the way that I post them.
This Do Nothing cake is nothing but delicious! Its my go to recipe for gatherings and there are never any leftovers. I make it with an all purpose gluten free baking flour and it comes.out great.
I made this cake yesterday for a family dinner and everyone raved about it. I’m going to make it again today for my daughter to take to a friend who was hit by one of the tornadoes here in Texas. I will also make it for a church outing next week! I can’t eat anything due to cancer of the throat so I missed it!
tasty! I may toast the walnuts and coconut next time
I made it 3 days ago and half of it is left. It’s delicious. And, yes, it is a dense & moist cake.
Yummy! Kind of similar to my N Carolina aunts and grandma call Sock it to me cake which is a two layer cake.
Can you make this cake as a layer cake?
Im sure you can, just would have to adjust the cooking time.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
I just keep it covered in a cool place in my house, you can refrigerate it if you like.
I’m convinced this is the best cake on the planet! I rarely make any other dessert but this one. Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Can I reduce the amount of sugar in the cake?
This is the way we make this cake, you can always try it.
Can you use softasilk cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
I have never used cake flour so I can’t advise. Good luck!
Have a ? My grandma made a orange raisin cake. She ground the whole orange and raisins together maybe some nuts meats. It was a thin cake and some of orange/raisins mixture was used for the frosting & poured over a warm cake. Have you heard of a cake like this . She made it in the late 60’s early 70’s. Very rich cake. Hope you can find or you know please share if you know thank you…
I have never heard of it, but it sure sounds delicious!
It sure does sound delicious.
Would you please give us all the recipe?
It would be greatly appreciated.
This is the cake she is referring to. We now have it on the website: https://thesouthernladycooks.com/orange-kiss-me-cake/
I made this cake about 2 weeks ago for the first time. My husband said it’s probably his new favorite cake. We LOVED it!
So glad this cake was such a hit. We love this one too!
I made this cake several weeks ago, delicious! With only me and my husband to enjoy it, I put a lot of it in Tupperware and stuck it in the freezer. Our son and his family came by to wish dad happy birthday and I sent half home with them. Today I got a text from my 17 yo granddaughter asking for the recipe, they all loved it. Old fashioned is still cool and really good!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this cake. We love this one too 🙂
Made this yesterday for a function that is now postponed. Can I freeze this cake???
I’ve never frozen this cake, but it would probably be fine.
The flavor was amazing, this has become our favorite cake. My only question was that it did not rise much, it was dense. Did I do something wrong?
Hi Rosa, I would say you didn’t do anything wrong. It actually doesn’t fully rise like a regular cake so I’m sure you did everything right. We’re glad you enjoyed it, it’s one of our favorites!
This is a wonderful cake. Very moist and delicious.
Thank you, Judy. So happy you enjoyed this recipe.
I have made this cake three different times but not once did I have all of the ingredients as you list here. I am the “Queen of alternatives” only because I live in a tiny budget and can not afford a lot as far as groceries go. So I substitute like minded ingredients. First time I used a can of peaches and didn’t have the nuts and coconut. But I’d say, hands down was the best cake I had made in a long time. Tonight I am using fruit Cocktail and cool whip instead of icing. Looks great already!
My mama made this cake using what she had on hand..fruit cocktail, peaches, Apple pie filling she canned. This was a childhood favorite…she called it poor mans cake
This cake is delicious! Plus, it’s so easy! I’ll be making this for so many occasions. Thank you!!
Will try these cakes for our meeting next month. God bless you and yours in abundance. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
This cake sounds and looks so good. Only one thing I’m curious about is that it contains no shortening. Is that the correct? No butter or oil or vegetable shortening? Just want to be sure before I try it.
Thanks & I love your daily newsletters.
It does not have butter, oil or shortening, Sue, but it does work. I found that strange, too, when I first made the cake. It is delicious and I hope you make it and enjoy it. Let us know how you liked it and thank you for your kind comment. Happy to have you on the site. Don’t ever hesitate to ask if something seems odd to you, we could have made a mistake.