September 2026

Unthinkable? Oven-ready beer box magic

When you want to bake a birthday cake that’s big enough for a whole bunch of people, but you only have small cake pans, don’t go and buy a big cake pan. Nope, instead, go to your nearest liquor store or shop and ask for an empty beer box. Cover the box with foil and voila – you’ve got a huge cake pan.

And there’s another benefit of a beer box cake pan – when the last crumb is eaten, just throw the pan in the trash. (I need more of these in my kitchen!)

Empty beer box

Beer box covered with foil and ready for the oven

Note: When you cover the beer box with foil, you need to cover it on the inside and outside of the box. And remember that the shiny side of the foil should be on the outside.

Last year I baked a beer box cake for one of our friends for his birthday. That weekend there were 20 of us camping, and there were even enough for second helpings. (Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of this cake – it was gone before I could get hold of the camera)!

A month later I baked another beer box cake for Ragel’s daughter who celebrated her 16th birthday. (Ragel works in our house here on the farm).

Sweet Sixteen

And recently, Tessa, who works in one of the other houses on the farm, asked me to bake a beer box cake for her daughter’s 14th birthday.

Not only is the beer box quite unique, but the cake is also really tasty. So, if you maybe want to bake a cake for a big group of people, this is the recipe to follow:

Ingredients:

2 Cups (500ml) boiling water

1 Cup (250ml) sunflower oil

2 Teaspoons vanilla essence

6 Eggs

3 Cups (750ml) sugar

4 Cups (1,000ml) all-purpose flour

6 Teaspoons baking powder

1 Teaspoon salt

*Add 150ml cocoa for a chocolate cake. (Leave the cocoa out if you want a vanilla cake).

Ingredients for a chocolate beer box cake

Method:

Start with preheating the oven to 180ºC/ 356°F.

Mix the boiling water, cocoa and sunflower oil and put it aside. (Leave the cocoa out if you prefer a vanilla cake.)

Mix boiling water, cocoa and sunflower oil

Whisk eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla essence to the egg mixture.

Whisk eggs and sugar

Add vanilla essence to egg mixture

Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, then add the liquid mixture (water, cocoa and oil) and mix well.

Add dry ingredients and then liquid mixture to egg mixture

Mix well together

Pour the cake batter into the beer box and spread it evenly.

Pour cake batter into beer box

Bake for about 40-45 minutes until done or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Chocolate beer box cake

Tessa’s daughter requested caramel condensed milk on top of the cake – it’s probably one of the easiest ways to decorate a cake.

Easy-peasy topping for any cake

The cake must be completely cooled before the caramel condensed milk is added. Mix the two tins of caramel condensed milk to smooth before spreading it on the cake – this ensures a smooth and even layer.

Mix caramel condensed milk to smooth and spread on cake

Berto said that a 14-year-old daughter would like a few flowers on her birthday, and I left it up to him to decorate the cake.

Happy 14th birthday

Sometimes the sweetest surprises come from thinking outside the box – literally.