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
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Ingredients
Wacky Cake
- 3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (57g) natural 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) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- 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.
- 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.
- Pour the water evenly over the entire pan of ingredients, then use a whisk or fork to gently combine everything together.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool, then make the frosting.
- 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.
- 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.
- Allow frosting to cool, then serve.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Frosting recipe modified from Southern Living.
We used this recipe to make cake for our children for school
Fun! I hope they enjoyed it!
Hi Lindsay! I love your scripture and recipes! I was wondering if you remove the cocoa will it then become a vanilla cake? Do I need to substitute something else in its place like instant vanilla pudding mix or light corn syrup?
It’s hard to say for sure without testing it. You could try replacing the cocoa with additional flour and see how that goes.
Hi TJ and Lindsay! I can confirm that you can substitute the cocoa with 1/2 cup flour for a vanilla cake. Just made it. Didn’t have any cocoa so I took the chance! Came out fluffy and tastes like vanilla cookies!
Thank you for letting me know! I’m so glad to hear it worked out well!
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for ages and actually someone at my work can’t eat eggs and dairy so this would be perfect! Would love to try the original frosting…would it work using plant milk or water and vegetable shortening instead of the butter do you think?
Another type of milk should be fine. I’m not sure about the shortening, but it would be worth a try.
When do you add the 2 cups of sugar as called for in the ingredient list? Or Am I missing something.
Sorry,visiting did miss it. It is a great recipe.
Oh, whoops. Glad you saw it!
The sugar is added in step two, along with the flour, cocoa, etc.
I’ve just used the basis of this recipe and made wacky carrot cupcakes. Peal and grate 1 lb of carrots, add a handful of raisins, and the sugar. Add all the liquids, and mix gently. In a separate bowl add the flour + 57g extra (instead of the cocoa), salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground ginger and .25 tsp ground cloves. Stir a whisk through this so all mixed together. Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients, and stir to incorporate (quite a wet mix). Carefully spoon cupcake cases to about two thirds full. Put in the oven (350/Gas 4) for about 20 minutes, turn the tray around for another 4-5 minutes (probably don’t need to turn if you have a fan oven). The tops will look a golden brown, and a toothpick will come out clean. This recipe makes about 36 medium sized cupcakes. Yum, Yum, Yum
Awesome! They sound delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Great recipe and tastes really good. I haven’t got a 9×13 inch pan, so settled for a 9×12 inch pan – it took an extra 20-ish minutes to cook. Still great though, and will make again.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is literally THE only recipe I use for chocolate cake because it is friggin bomb. AWESOME recipe.
So glad you enjoy it!