Wacky Cake – Crazy Cake, Depression Cake – whatever you call it, it is DELICIOUS! No eggs or milk in the batter! Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, vinegar, oil, vanilla, and water. Make the cake directly in the cake pan. Tastes like a cross between and cake and a brownie. Top the cake with a quick homemade chocolate frosting or powdered sugar. #cake #dessert
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Pin This RecipeWhat is Wacky Cake?
Wacky Cake, or Crazy Cake, is a recipe from the late 1930s or early 1940s. A friend made this cake and raved about it. I was skeptical. A cake with no eggs, no milk, no butter? Yep, and it tasted delicious! It was simple to make. You can make it right in the pan you are baking it in. One less dish to wash! This is a great cake when you need/want something quick, easy and delicious.
How to Make Wacky Cake
This cake is super easy to make. Start with placing the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in an 8-inch cake pan. Next, make three wells in the dry ingredients for the vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil. Finally, pour a cup of water over everything and stir it. Pop the cake in the oven and you are done.
I mixed this cake right in the cake pan. You can also make the batter in a bowl. You will just have an extra dirty dish. This cake is great to add your favorite mixins – chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts, cherries. Get creative!
I topped the cake with a quick homemade chocolate frosting made from chocolate chips, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. You can also add a splash of milk if the frosting is too stiff. If you don’t want to make the frosting, feel free to open a can of pre-made frosting. It will work just fine. I’ve sometimes just sprinkled the cake with some powdered sugar. YUM!
Depression Cake made without Eggs
The cake tasted like a cross between a brownie and a cake. The fudgy frosting on top was super delicious. We both preferred this cake with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. BOOM! I wish I had a piece right now!
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Wacky Cake
Equipment:
Ingredients:
Cake
- 1Ā½ cups flour
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Ā½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
Frosting
- Ā½ cup chocolate chips
- Ā½ tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp butter
- Ā½ to Ā¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp milk, optional
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350Ā°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
- Mix first 5 dry ingredients in prepared pan. Make 3 wells in dry ingredients. Pour vinegar in one well, vanilla in second well and vegetable oil in third well. Pour 1 cup of water over entire mixture. Mix until smooth.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely.
- To prepare frosting, in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt chocolate chips and butter. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and powdered sugar until desired consistency.
- Spread over cooled cake and enjoy!
Notes:
Steph
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I had a hard time with frosting – it was instantly pasty – so I added a splash of milk and it became wonderful right away! Maybe this will help someone else!
Yes! It helped me! I threw out the first batch thinking I'd messed up, and then it happened again, so I came to the comments for help!
we've made wacky cake in the school cafeteria for a very long time. ALWAYS a favorite with any age kid, they love it!. dusted with powdered sugar no frosting.
This cake sounds fabulous!! I love fudgey cakes!! š
I cant wait to try this, My son has dairy and egg allergy so the cake portion of this would be perfect. Thanks!
Looks delicious. Thanks for posting.
Great recipe, I make the cake for my son that has a milk allergy. I make it with balsamic vinegar instead of the white vinegar, delicious!
Seems like the 1 Tbsp butter in the recipe would count as butter!
It isn't in the cake – it is in the frosting
Anyone know what the Nutrition info is on this? Would love to try this but it would probably kill my Blood Sugar.
I had forgotten about this cake. We used to make it in the 1950's. It was always good.
Did you use semi sweet chocolate chips?
A one pot cake that tastes good is a great find.
New to me! I'll give it a try – the more chocolatey and rich, the better!
Wacky Cake was a favorite several years ago when my daughter was growing up. She always requested this cake when she asked her friends over. Very easy, delicious and quick to make! Thanks for posting.
Goofy cake… my dad's favorite!!
Wow — I used to make this and I was just thinking about it yesterday, wondering where in the world I had put the recipe — and not knowing where in the world (in my zillions of collected recipes) to look! Thanks!
We love Wacky Cake here – I always have everything for it and it makes a manageable size. It's definitely and oldie but goodie – I should make one tonight!
This is an oldie but a goodie. I am in my late sixties and I made it a teenager.
I'm in my early 60's and I did too, lol. Another, like this, was a "3 hole cake" and it did use eggs and filled a 9X13 pan (3 eggs, but much the same ingredients). To die for and easy. Loved!