Known as wacky cake, war cake, Depression cake, Joe cake, dump cake or crazy cake, the delicious premise behind them is all the same: it’s a cake that can be mixed, baked and served from the same bowl. It’s as much, if not more, about what isn’t required as what is:

• No need for multiple bowls
• No need to cream the fat (e.g. butter, shortening or oil) with the sugar
• No need to separate the eggs
• No need to alternately add ingredients while simultaneously mixing
• No need to use cake flour or other fancy flour
• No need to sift flour
• No need for a heavy-duty stand mixer.

But what about taste? Pure bliss! Comforting and old-fashioned but surprisingly modern and elegant too. The added bonus is that there is virtually no clean-up. Recipes include:

• Sticky toffee pudding cake
• Brandied Christmas cake
• Chai spice with honey frosting
• Boozy bourbon bundt
• Whole wheat carrot bundt
• Chocolate ganache stout layer cake
• Lavender-lemon pound cake.

In addition to the cakes, there are over 75 icing, glaze, syrup and sauce recipes. Piece of Cake! also features a cook-friendly lay-flat wiro binding and is full color throughout.

These cakes can be prepared in almost the same time as it takes to make a cake from a mix, but the results couldn’t be more deliciously different.