[donotprint] This recipe has been around longer than I have. Chances are your granny or great granny may have made this in the Depression era. Some may know it as “Wacky cake” or “Depression Cake”. During the Great Depression, someone figured out how to make a moist, delicious cake without eggs, milk, or butter because these ingredients were expensive and hard to get. I call this a timeless generational recipe – passed down from generation to generation.
Since then, this cake has become quite popular for people who are vegan or allergic to dairy… like my daughter, Abigail. She is allergic to dairy and like her mama, she loves her cake but can’t always eat it. This cake taste remarkably good with great flavor and texture – very similar to chocolate cakes made with boxed cake mix.People are always surprised to discover there is no dairy when I tell them. Top off with your favorite chocolate frosting or a dusting of powered sugar and you’re good to go! Enjoy! [/donotprint]
Chocolate Wacky Depression Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together by hand. Add all the wet ingredients until well combined. Pour into a 8×8 pan which has been prepared with non stick spray.
Bake for 30 until done. Allow to completely cool before serving. Cake is even better if eaten the next day. Enjoy!
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Just tried this (doubled the cocoa and added chocolate chips on top as it was baking) and it was the perfect not-to-sweet treat tonight! Definitely a keeper, stashing it away as the perfect thing to make in a hurry before company comes over
I found this recipe on another site and tried it…it was VERY good! I topped it with a chocolate ganache…YUM! This is a must try recipe…and one that I will pass on to family and friends!
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This is a great recipe for sure. I’ve been making it for years but substitute olive oil for vegetable oil (it gives a rich, buttery flavour) and instead of sugar I use 1/3 cup maple syrup so it’s vegan. It is moist and delicious. I also make a ganache icing for it using soymilk and dark chocolate. Excellent cake and very easy to make.
Enjoy!
I can’t help but to say, “You’re doing it wrong.”
Traditionally, everything is meant to be mixed into the baking pan. First mix all the dry ingredients together and put them into the pan.
Create three craters with a spoon and put all wet ingredients (save for the water) into their own crater. Add water and THEN mix everything together. Once mixed, the pan goes straight into the oven.
Due to the lack of milk and butter, it’s the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda that keeps the cake moist. Which is also why everything is done in the pan rather than taking the time to mix everything in a bowl and pour everything in: This saves that time and bakes the cake while the reaction is still occurring rather than waiting a couple minutes as it’s subsiding.
Hi Shenorai,
Yes, the method that you shared is how I was taught in home ec. close. However, I discovered you don’t need to do the three hole method – although it does save you from having to wash an extra bowl. I like making my batter in a separate bowl so I can spray the baking pan with non-stick spray. This way the cake comes out of the pan easily.
Oh, yeah, this is how my depression era mother in law taught me. Mix it all in the baking pan. SO easy and delicious. Used to send this “Poor Man’s Cake” (as we call it) cupcakes to school as my son had a class mate allergic to milk and eggs.
This is pretty much the exact recipe my husband got from his great-grandmother. It is the cake he requests every birthday. His family traditionally tops it with a caramel frosting made from brown sugar, butter, cream, and powdered sugar.
I made this wacky cake into a cupcake bouquet for my mom for mothers day because she’s allergic to eggs. The cupcake was super moist, its my new favorite chocolate cupcake, I even like it better than martha’s one bowl. I also made a coffee frosting that made my buttercream rose cupcakes smell delicious! check them out at
http://cookingwith-gina.blogspot.com/2012/05/mocha-bouquet.html
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