Who doesn’t love chocolate cake?  As in, a flavorful, far from dry, super texture chocolate cake!!  Me!  And my crew – the 12-year-old requests it by name.  To make this, even MORE, fun – this baby has no dairy or eggs in it.  Correct, nada.  Say hello to successfully bringing a vegan dessert.  Or an allergen-free one.  Take that old ‘Fear of Feeding Cupcakes to Kids’!!  

Not that it was the original intent of this recipe by any means.  See, this baby dates back to Depression-era – as in NO ONE HAD ANY EGGS or BUTTER.  And it uses vinegar to give the baking soda the boost to lift the cake since there is no structure from the protein normally found in eggs.  Put all of those together and the recipe appears to be, umm, wacky.  

And the wackiest thing of all – you can literally have ALL of the ingredients on hand and whip up an awesome homemade goody at the last moment.  Bundt pan, sheet cake or cupcakes, all turn out well.  

NOTE #1: I have not tried this with a gluten-free flour yet – but I firmly believe it would work just fine.  Let me know if any of you give it a whirl!  

NOTE #2: If you want to frost this baby, put a thin layer on first and let it set or mostly dry.  This will catch all of the crumbs.  Then go back and put on the “pretty” layer.  The cake is so moist, it will crumb into the frosting.  Just FYI.  

Print Recipe

Wacky Cake

A simple chocolate cake that wins every time. All ingredients are easily kept in the pantry for those panic "I need to make something" moments (block party, class party, PMS, whatever). ENJOY!

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour max

Servings

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar I have done 1 3/4...
• 5 TBSP cocoa
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2/3 cup canola oil Others might work, too!
• 2 TBSP vinegar Usually white since has no inherent flavor
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups water

Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 1 hour max Servings Ingredients 3 cups flour 2 cups sugar I have done 1 3/4... 5 TBSP cocoa 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp Salt 2/3 cup canola oil Others might work, too! 2 TBSP vinegar Usually white since has no inherent flavor 2 tsp vanilla 2 cups water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 with rack in the middle of oven. If using bundt pan, grease and coat with cocoa powder. Same for 9x13 if want to dump out the cake for frosting purposes. Otherwise, a light greasing is fine. Same for cupcake tins if not using papers. Combine dry ingredients well. Add in wet ingredients and mix very well until smooth. Hand mixer is faster, but not necessary. Pour into prepared pan and bake according to pan size until toothpick comes out clean. - 9x13 pan = 30 - 35 minutes - Bundt pan = 45 - 50 minutes - Cupcakes = 20 - 25 minutes