It’s actually super interesting. Back in the depression, there were severe shortages of eggs, milk and butter…all things you need to make a cake, right? Well, it turns out, not exactly.
Someone (I don’t know who but he or she was a genius) figured out how to make a chocolate cake – including icing – without any of these ingredients. Better than that, it’s an excellent chocolate cake. Seriously, you will be surprised and impressed. And with the price of eggs skyrocketing, why not take this time to give it a try!
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 t baking soda
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- ¼ t salt
- 2 T white vinegar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 t vanilla *
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup chocolate chips *
Frosting
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 t vanilla *
- Water, as needed (about 1 T and 1 t)
* These are not actually original wacky cake ingredients and you really don’t need them. But it’s my recipe and I want them, so there you have it.
Directions
You don’t even need a bowl for this cake! Get an 8” or 9” square baking pan. Pour – directly into the pan – the flour, baking soda, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Mix them with a fork until they’re well combined.Make three wells in the flour mixture, like this:
Pour the vinegar into your first well, your oil and vanilla into the second and your water into the third. It’s fine if there’s spillover because you’re just going to get your fork and mix everything together until well blended.
Stir in the chocolate chips (if you’re using them).
Bake at 350 for about a half hour or until the edges get crunchy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely in the pan.
Once the cake is cool, on to the frosting, and you will need a bowl for this one (but just one).
Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add water a bit at a time until you get the mixture to a consistency you like (I used 1 T and 1 t – you really don’t need a lot. If you add too much water, just add more powdered sugar to get to a good consistency).
Spread your frosting on the cake and that’s it! You’re ready to serve and I will repeat – you will be shocked at how good this cake is!
Ugly Desserts 