How to Make Liver Cake
This is the world's most popular homemade dog treat—and for good reason! It's incredibly simple to make, uses cheap, everyday ingredients, and your dog will absolutely love it.
Liver is easy to find in any supermarket (Morrisons is a great bet) or from your local butcher. The recipe calls for roughly 500g (about 1lb), but don't worry if your pack is a bit more or less—this recipe is very forgiving. If you don't have liver, you can easily swap it for other proteins like minced beef, kidney, heart, chicken livers, or even tuna!
This cake is perfect as a training treat, a special birthday cake, or even to sell at fairs. You can top it with cream cheese for a "frosting" or bake the mixture in a cupcake tray for individual pupcakes (check out my pupcake recipe for details).
For this recipe, you'll need a 9" cake tin. You can find one online here.
Equipment
- 1 9" Cake tin
Ingredients
- 500 g Liver (approx. 1lb, a standard pack)
- 2 Eggs
- 200 g Wholemeal flour (200g = 7 ounces)
- Splash of milk
Instructions
- Add the liver, the eggs and a splash of milk to a jug.
- And blend it. It should look a bit like a smoothie once done.
- Transfer the mix to a large bowl and add 200g (7oz) of flour
- Mix ingredients until it’s a thick sticky goo. You can add a bit more flour if it’s not thick enough. But it should be fine.
- Grease a cake tin with a little butter.
- Empty your mix into cake tin, making sure it’s level.
- Put cake tin into the middle of a preheated oven at 160ºC (320ºF/Gas Mark 3) and cook for about 45 mins.
- Right, it should now be cooked. Yummy!
- It’s easier to cut while it’s still warm.
- Cut into squares and fridge. Freeze what you won’t use in a few days.
- If your dog is like mine, she will have watched you the entire time.
I made this as a 10th birthday cake for my 2 dogs and they love it. I used exactly half the recipe and cooked it for 45 mins but then turned the oven off and let it cool in the oven, that way you don’t get the smell drifting in the house as much and it seemed cooked perfectly! There was plenty left which I’ve cubed and put in the freezer, this is also very cheap to make, 500kg of liver only cost me £1.08 and the rest of the ingredients are in most store cupboards. Thanks very much for the recipe! ?
Hey Kelly,
Thanks for you comments. That’s exactly what I did Saturday for my pup’s 1st birthday. Forgot how easy it all was and how much they love it.
Hi James,
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. My mum Trish makes loads of it and freezes it in small amounts. It smells delicious and I sit by the hot thingy in the kitchen till its done. ??? She lets me have it when I take her training. (The cat, Yannis, sometimes has a few crumbs but it’s really big boy stuff. ?? ) My buddies at doggy training think it’s yummy too. It’s so good I watch mums hand all the time and try to do everything right, then she gives me lots of little bits . Thanks again
Paddy The Laddy.
Haha, thanks Paddy!
Hi,
Is the recipe for soft or hard cake? My three dogs love softer type. Thank you
It’s quite soft, bready like.
Do you think ox liver would be OK to use?
Ox liver is fine
Hi, I was just wondering how long these would keep in the freezer?
Thank you 🙂
Hey Toni,
If frozen fresh they will pretty much last forever since they are for dogs.
Thanks Jamie!
Am about to embark on my first liver cake my wife has some concerns regarding the smell of the baking process ,can anyone offer some enlightment
Much appreciated
The smell isn’t that bad. I’d say it isn’t bad at all. There is a smell as you are cooking in the oven but nothing that will linger or stink the house out. No worse than any other sort of baking (in my opinion).
Want to make this for my dog’s birthday – rescue dog – almost a year with us. Wondered if I could freeze this and how long it would need to defrost or could it be stored in the fridge for a few days?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks.
Yeah, it will last a few days in fridge but also defrost in about an hour or so if you freeze.
My dogs recall has dramatically improved with this cake as a treat. Every 5 mins during the walk I call him and he comes straight away. I only use it on walks and walking is now so much more relaxed and enjoyable…
Hey Ali. Thanks for your comments. Real dog treats just work in a way commercial ones cant. I’m glad the recall is so much better, keep going and it’ll become habbit. Wanna try something else sometime, try the sardine oatcakes and don’t forget to let me know how it goes!!
hi there
would this be ok for me to give my 7 month cockerpoo?
Yeah, in moderation.
Thanks for the recipe:) if I was to use half the mixture, how long do you reckon it would take to cook?
Hey Holly
Oh that really depends on the size of the tray, thickness of cake etc. But you could start with half the time and see how that goes.