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. ;)
I made this for my son when he was little and had numerous food allergies. No eggs, no milk , no soy (if you use corn oil). Very tasty!
Haven’t tried the recipe yet but I make a similar chocolate cake so I’m sure it will be fine. I would do the coffee for water and my go to icing is always Neufchâtel cream cheese with a little powdered sugar and almond extract.
This cake turned out delicious even with my substitutions of balsamic vinegar and almond extract. The only thing was the middle stuck to the pan and also to the plate I turned it onto to cool.
Looks yum! you captured it beautifully. I’m a new bee, I start cooking in this pandemic and now am loving to make different varieties of food, dessert. Today I would love to try this out.
I made this as my first ever baking recipe. It turned out fantastic! I did have the middle sink. But, the combo of cake and icing made out week. My wife and I love chocolate and this did not disappoint. My wife keeps around good quality cocoa powder and she says that makes a different. It sure did taste good here. And between the two of us and some serious discipline, we made the cake last five days. It was easy…so easy, I couldn’t believe it. When it came out of the oven…I had a huge smile on my face. Thank you for such an easy and wonderful recipe.
I used cooled coffee instead of water and it came out pretty good especially with ice cream. If you aren’t going to make the frosting (I don’t have confection sugar). Can you use around a quarter cup or eighth cup more sugar to make the cake itself a little sweeter? I wasn’t sure if that would completely overwhelm the cake or not. Its pretty good right now but needs to be a little sweeter in my opinion unless you add ice cream to it.
perfect recipe! It’s not too sweet (I made it without frosting) and while it is great solo, it would be good with fruit sauce or fresh whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.
I just made this but didn’t pay full attention to the instructions and made it in a cake tin instead of a baking dish. I only realized when I saw the pics down the bottom. I assume you bake it, let it cool, frost it and serve it in the baking dish?. Can I take it out of the oven, let it cool slightly and then remove from the pan and let it cool fully this way?
Yes you could do both. The instructions will guide you through the cooling and frosting.
I find it strange that you had to downplay this cake simply because it doesn’t have butter. That immediately turned me off from making this. Why would you even suggest something that you think isn’t the best?
Also I bake without butter all the time subbing it with coconut oil thats not melted and no one has ever been able to tell that it’s a no butter cake. I even made butter cakes without butter. So try it out, maybe it will satisfy you
Oh my gosh, such nostalgia! When I was a girl in the 1960s one of the moms in the neighborhood used to make this all the time and taught us to make it. The secret ingredient was the vinegar, and we thought it was a terrific cake. I will make this asap, and already rated it as great, because I remember it so fondly.
What if you don’t have a square pan, 9+9/
I have a round 9 by 91/2
Can this recipe also be made in a 13 by 9 pan. If so what measurements would you have to make it with.
Yes you can do in a round or a 9×13. Baking time may vary some and it could be a bit thinner of a cake.
You can use a cup of cooled coffee instead of water for a little different flavor.
My kiddo suggested we make this today because he’s “depressed” schools are cancelled for rest of the term. It was fun to make. Cake was moist on the inside, a little crunchy on the outside. He loved the frosting.
Thank you for this great recipe! Making it for the third time this morning. I’ve been following the recipe exactly but instead of baking in a cake pan baking it in muffin/cupcake tin for 20 minutes at 350. I’m calling them chocolate muffins and omitting the frosting. My family has been gobbling them up!
This is what I did! Mine did not turn out *pretty* but they were absolutely delicious. I opted for a chocolate buttercream instead of the noted icing.
Used Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 GF baking flour and it worked perfectly.