Depression as in The Great Depression, not depression as in “this cake will cure your depression.” 😅Since a lot of us are experiencing ingredient shortages right now, I thought there was no better time to post this Chocolate Depression Cake (also known as Crazy Cake or Wacky Cake), which was also born out of a time when ingredients were in limited supply—The Great Depression. This unique cake is rich and chocolatey without using any eggs, milk, or butter. A cake without butter?? So “wacky,” I know.
How Do You Make Cake Without Eggs or Butter?
Butter usually serves to keep cake soft and tender by coating the flour molecules in fat and preventing them from developing a tough gluten matrix. In this recipe, butter is replaced with the cooking oil of your choice, which can achieve the safe effect, but with slightly less richness.
Eggs usually help leaven cakes by creating steam that puffs up the batter, then giving structure to the risen cake as the proteins firm up. In this cake, the eggs are replaced with a combination of vinegar and baking soda, which foams up quickly, making the cake light and fluffy. It’s almost like a giant version of my Chocolate Mug Cake, if you’ve ever tried that. Anne Byrn’s 1917 Apple Sauce Cake also uses a similar no-egg, no-butter style batter.
Is This the Best Chocolate Cake?
Haha, let’s be real, this cake doesn’t have butter. So while it’s probably not the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had, it’s a damn fine treat when your cabinets are bare. Not to mention it’s incredibly easy. Anyone can make this cake, and with very little cooking equipment or ingredients. For those two reasons alone, this is a good recipe to keep tucked in your back pocket (or your browser’s bookmarks). Also, it just happens to be vegan!
How to Serve Depression Cake
I made a super simple dairy-free chocolate icing to top my cake, but be aware that this type of dairy-free icing is super sweet because there is no fat to kind of mellow out the sweetness. If you’re not into super sweet icings, I suggest skipping the icing and just dusting your cake with powdered sugar after it cools (if you do it while the cake is still hot the powdered sugar will dissolve). Or, if you do have butter on hand, you can go with a more traditional chocolate buttercream frosting. A scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of an icing free slice of this cake would also be divine.
Chocolate Depression Cake (No Eggs, Butter, or Milk)
Servings 9 1 slice eachIngredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour ($0.23)
- 1 cup granulated sugar ($0.80)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 tsp baking soda ($0.02)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.21)
- 1/3 cup cooking oil* ($0.21)
- 1 Tbsp vinegar** ($0.06)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.30)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
Chocolate Icing
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar ($0.10)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder ($0.16)
- 3 Tbsp water ($0.00)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.30)
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder until well combined.
- Add 1 cup water to a liquid measuring cup, then add the vanilla extract and vinegar to the water.
- Add the oil to the bowl of dry ingredients, followed by the water mixture. Stir until the chocolate cake batter is mostly smooth. Make sure no dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.
- Pour the cake batter into an 8×8" or 9×9" baking dish. Transfer the baking dish to the oven and bake the cake for 35 minutes.
Chocolate Icing
- If using the chocolate icing, let the cake cool for at least an hour after baking before adding the icing.
- Wait until the cake is cool, then prepare the icing. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract to a bowl. Begin adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it forms a thick but pourable icing (about 3 Tbsp total). If you let the icing sit, it may begin to dry, but you can add a splash more water to make it moist again.
- Pour the icing over the cooled cake and spread until the cake is evenly covered. Slice the cake into 9 pieces and serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Chocolate Cake with No Butter, No Eggs, and No Milk – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl combine 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, and ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Stir these ingredients together until they’re well combined.
Measure 1 cup water in a liquid measuring cup, then add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 Tbsp vinegar (any light vinegar, like white vinegar, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar). Add ⅓ cup cooking oil and the water mixture to the dry ingredients.
Stir until a thick cake batter forms. A few lumps are okay, but make sure no dry flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.
Pour the cake batter into an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking dish.
Bake the cake in the fully preheated 350ºF oven for 35 minutes. If you plan to make the chocolate icing, cool the cake for at least an hour before making and adding the icing.
To make the icing, simply add 1.5 cups powdered sugar, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa, and 1 tsp vanilla extract to a bowl. Starting with one tablespoon water, stir in water until it forms a thick icing (about 3 Tbsp total). The powdered sugar only needs a very small amount of liquid to melt into a thick icing. If you let the icing sit for a bit, it can dry out, but can be moistened again by stirring in another splash of water.
Pour the prepared icing over the baked and cooled cake, then spread into an even layer. Cut the cake into nine equal pieces, then serve!
It’s also really good with a glass of milk or scoop of ice cream. ;)
My mother who is 90 remembers this cake from The Great Depression and WWII.
We’ve made this before although it’s been decades. Will make it again today since dad just bungled making a banana nut bread recipe.
Sounds great! I don’t have any cocoa powder though, is it okay if I just don’t add it and say it’s vanilla?
I haven’t tried that version and leaving the cocoa out might change the dry/wet ingredient ration, so you’re probably best Googling “vanilla wacky cake” to find a recipe that’s been tested without the cocoa powder. :)
I intentionally use virgin coconut oil in my chocolate recipes as chocolate and coconut are a great combination. My favorite Martha Stewart chocolate cake/cupcake recipe call for oil not butter. Oil makes for a moister cake then butter.
I’m now 60, and I have made this for years and years. It’s the only chocolate cake recipe I have. Got the recipe from my mom (89-years young), who made it as long as I can remember!
Thank you for this, Beth. Unfortunately flour has been sold out for weeks so I’ve had to be very judicious about my flour usage. :( :( One day I’ll hope to make this. It looks delicious though!
You can try calling to local restaurants or bakeries to see if they’ll sell you wholesale!
I have a recipe for this cake in my Recipe Box-it’s called Chocolate Snack Cake. I always keep it around for if I’m low on ingredients and need something sweet. Good things never go out of style!
My mom grew up during the depression, so this recipe was on a regular rotation in our house. It was the first recipe she taught me to make!
Hi Beth,
I think this is the first time I’ve responded to one of your posts…… but though it worthwhile because we’ve been making what we call “Wacky Cake” for years. It’s the families first choice for family gatherings (made one just yesterday- flavored the buttercream frosting with a dash of that mornings leftover coffee!.
However, in this time of careful rationing of what resources we have, two weeks ago I had googled recipes for eggless applesauce cake, since I had leftover applesauce in the fridge- and limited eggs.
Your recipe for Anne Byrn’s cake came up, was an easy recipe, so I made it. THE BEST spice type cake I’ve ever made! Once again, I used a “butter” (Earth Balance) cream frosting, this time flavored with orange juice), and I added raisins. So in love with this recipe- I hesitate to make it again as I’ve already gained during this “unique” period of time. :-(
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. (Love your site- be safe!)
Thank you for that! I love hearing about how recipes are a part of peoples’ family memories like that. :) I hope you’re staying safe, too!
My grandmother always made this cake for her kids’ and grandkids’ birthdays. She used coffee in place of water and made a boiled vanilla frosting. It tastes amazing and moist on day 2! I made it today for Easter dinner and added some peanut butter to my boiled frosting as a nod to the peanut butter eggs we don’t have!
My grandma too! We loved it more than store bought and would request it for all birthdays.
We added some cinnamon, but will try cayenne with the next one. Thanks for all the great suggestions for “extras” to this cake.
Easy and delicious! I also used coffee in place of water.
Used coconut oil, they turned out good. I didn’t need any frosting on top. :)
Made this cake today, it was so easy and turned out so nice and moist!
I know this as “snack cake” and I like to toss a handful of chocolate chips in (if you have them) and sprinkle the top with sugar before baking-gives it a nice little crunch on top. I love to make it up as a quick dessert and it never lasts more than two days at my house. We also make a yellow or vanilla version as well. We call that moon cake because you can mix everything in the pan (albeit a bowl is the better way to go) and we make craters for the wet ingredients. Adding in chocolate chips of course for “moon rocks”. Not accurate, but cute for kids and they love helping-especially when you make a volcano out of the baking powder and vinegar.
Hey would whole wheat or GF work for this?
We haven’t tested it yet, however another reader just commented she tried it with GF blend and it worked!