Wacky cake is a Depression-era cake recipe made in one pan without eggs or dairy. There’s a reason that it has stood the test of time! This cake is fudgy and moist, and simple to make, topped with creamy chocolate icing.
My mom would make Wacky Cake for us when I was a kid, but the original recipe is much older. Wacky Cake, or Depression chocolate cake, was created in the Great Depression when ingredients like milk, butter, and eggs were scarce. So, a Wacky Cake was made in a single pan without them! It seems, well… wacky, but it totally works. You’d never know this cake is missing a good chunk of the ingredients in traditional chocolate cake.
What Makes a Wacky Cake Unique
- No eggs, butter, or milk. There’s a little baking magic that goes on when making a Wacky Cake. It allows the cake to bake up fluffy and moist without these traditional cake ingredients.
- Mix it right in the pan. You don’t need a mixer, and you actually mix the cake batter right in the pan it’s baked in. No need to grease the pan, either!
- Allergy-friendly. An unofficial bonus of baking a cake without eggs or dairy is that it’s a great dessert if you have an allergy to those ingredients.
What Does Go In a Wacky Cake?
If there’s no butter, eggs, or milk in a Wacky Cake, what are the ingredients? Here’s a quick look. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable recipe with exact measurements.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour. Measure the flour using a kitchen scale, or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off (the “spoon and level” method). Don’t scoop directly from the bag, or you’ll end up with too much flour.
- Sugar – This can be granulated sugar or brown sugar.
- Cocoa Powder – You’ll want to use unsweetened natural cocoa powder in combination with the baking soda in the recipe.
- Baking Soda – Not to be confused with baking powder. Make sure your leavening agent is as fresh as possible!
- Vinegar – White vinegar has a similar role in a Wacky Cake as it does in a red velvet cake recipe. It reacts with the baking soda to create a light, fluffy texture in the crumb.
- Oil – Instead of butter, oil brings moisture and tenderness to the cake. Choose a neutral-flavored vegetable oil or canola oil.
- Vanilla – Maybe not a traditional ingredient in a Depression-era Wacky Cake, but a dash of vanilla extract deepens the flavors in this recipe. Vanilla paste can also be used.
How to Make Wacky Cake
Baking a Wacky Cake is almost as easy as baking with a box of cake mix. In 3 steps, you’ll be on your way to a super-moist, fudgy chocolate cake.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Start by combining the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in an ungreased 9×13 baking pan.
- Add the wet ingredients. Next, make three wells in the dry ingredients, one larger and 2 smaller. You’ll add the oil to the large well and the vanilla extract and vinegar to the smaller wells. Lastly, pour a cup of water evenly over the ingredients. Use a fork or whisk to mix until the batter is smooth and combined.
- Bake it. Bake the cake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Frosting the Cake
I couldn’t resist adding a thick layer of boiled frosting to my Wacky Cake recipe. You could just as easily use homemade chocolate buttercream, vanilla frosting, sweet-tangy cream cheese frosting, or leave the cake unfrosted to keep it dairy-free.
Optional Cake Decorations
Go ahead and add a dusting of powdered sugar, sprinkles, or any decorations you’d like if it’s a birthday or holiday. These are just some of the many ways to decorate a Wacky Cake:
- Rainbow jimmies or nonpareils
- Chocolate curls
- Crushed Oreos or cookies
- Hot fudge sauce or chocolate ganache
- Caramel sauce
- Chocolate chips
- Fresh berries
- Marshmallows
More Chocolate Cake Recipes to Try
Wacky Cake
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12–15 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Wacky Cake, or Depression chocolate cake, is a Depression-era dessert made without eggs, butter, or milk. It’s wacky, but it works!
Ingredients
Wacky Cake
- 3 cups (390g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (57g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 3/4 cup (180ml) vegetable oil
- 2 cups (480ml) water
Chocolate Frosting
- 11 tbsp (154g) unsalted butter
- 6 tbsp (90ml) milk
- 5 tbsp (35g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to an ungreased 9×13 inch baking pan and gently whisk together to combine. Spread mixture evenly in pan.
3. Make three wells in the dry ingredients – one larger and two smaller. Add the oil to the larger well and the vanilla extract and vinegar to the other two wells..
4. Pour the water evenly over the entire pan of ingredients, then use a whisk or fork to gently combine everything together.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Allow cake to cool, then make the frosting.
7. For the frosting, add the butter, milk and cocoa powder to a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a simmer.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Whisk until everything is nice and smooth, then immediately pour the frosting over the cake and spread into an even layer. The frosting starts to set quickly, so you want to work fast. If adding sprinkles on top, have them handy and ready to go, or they won’t stick to the frosting well once it begins to firm up.
9. Allow frosting to cool, then serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 503
- Sugar: 58.5 g
- Sodium: 485.3 mg
- Fat: 20.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 80.8 g
- Protein: 3.7 g
- Cholesterol: 22.5 mg
Frosting recipe modified from Southern Living.
Made this with my son for his birthday, he love that it was “Wacky” he decorated it too. It really surprised me, so moist. I could had had it without the icing. I did have to bake slightly longer than the recipe called for. I will be making it again for sure!
So glad you enjoyed it!
dear lindsay i love this recipe it looks so good cant wait to try it!
but qq what do you mean by making “3 wells”? Im not a very good baker but this seems easy enough thanx so much
You’re basically making 3 little holes in the dry ingredients to add the wet ingredients to individually. I hope that helps!
I’ve used normal flour and gluten free flour it makes no difference – still tastes amazing 😊
So cringy this is called wacky cake. It is called depression cake!!! There is nothing wacky about not having necessary ingredients due to being poor or they are just unavailable.
This is now my new favourite cake recipe because it’s super moist and delicious and also because I’m always out of eggs because of my nephew and breakfast.
Thank you. I’m now trying out a vanilla version.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely fantastic recipe! Our go-to favorite. Make as-is or substitute 1 cup of water for coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Love this recipe! I am curious can you substitute the type of flour My nephew can’t have white flour due to allergies. Because this has no eggs and no milk and no butter in the cake part of it I could switch out the flour and he can have it. Let me know and thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure. Sorry!
What frosting is included in the picture for this cake? I made the boiled frosting you included in the recipe but it looks nothing like this, so now I am thinking you actually used a buttercream in the photo. Great cake, but sad about the boiled frosting, it wasn’t what I was going for…
The frosting in the photos is the one given in the recipe, not a buttercream. I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with it.
Hello Lindsay, I am a huge fan of your work…. this recipe turned out amazing for me. I topped it with a decadent dark chocolate ganache but I swear it needed no frosting, it was that moist. Do you have a recipe like this in Vanilla as well.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I don’t have a vanilla version right now though.
Finally a cake recipe i can prepare without adding eggs
Do you think melted and cooled coconut oil would work for this cake? I am out of vegetable oil and have coconut oil and olive oil. The stay at home policy is playing havoc on my baking supplies since Easter! Thank you.
It might give you a little different texture, since the coconut oil is thicker at room temperature than veggie oil, but it should be ok.
I am so glad you posted this recipe. I used to make it with my Grandmom, so this brought back great memories! It even prompted me to search & find the recipe she wrote down for me. ❤️
Oh my goodness! We used to have this at school lunches for dessert many, many years ago. That was the name then, too. I’ve made this so may times! Great when you don’t have any eggs or not enough!
This cake looks delicious!! Can I use coconut milk in the frosting mix?
I haven’t tried it, but would think that should be fine.
This is so cool, Lindsey! I especially love the look of that fudgy frosting…yum!
Hi! Do you have to mix it in the baking pan or can you use a bowl?
You can certainly use a bowl, if you prefer.
What kind of vinegar can you use? I’m out of white distilled vinegar but I have several other kinds of vinegar.
I used white distilled vinegar, but apple cider vinegar is also a popular choice.
Hello! Can you share the recipe for the frosting that you made on the stove top for this recipe.
The frosting recipe is included with the cake. The ingredients are below the cake ingredients and the instructions begin at number 7.