by Texas Homesteader ~
This easy depression-era chocolate crazy cake recipe is delicious. (some call it Wacky Cake). The recipe uses no eggs, butter, milk or even BOWLS!
Oh, and I also share a crazy-good mix-n-spread chocolate frosting recipe below too!
Why Is It Called Crazy Cake?
During the great depression certain ingredients were hard to come by. Ingredients such as milk, eggs and butter.
But their motto even way back then was the same as mine today:
Use whatcha got!
So they made a cake with no butter, milk or eggs. Crazy! But I think the bigger question here is how does it taste?
Well, it’s DELICIOUS! I especially love the brownie-like texture of the cake.
Crazy Cake Ingredients
Chocolate crazy cake is cake made with no eggs, butter, milk or even BOWLS!
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Flour
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Cocoa powder
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Granulated sugar
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Baking soda
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Salt
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White vinegar
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Vanilla extract
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Vegetable oil
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Water
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See full printable recipe card below for full recipe.
Simple EASY Directions For Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 325ºF. In an 8×8 glass dish add the dry ingredients. Then mix it lightly with a fork to blend & add the wet ingredients.
Baker’s Tip: I love to add a bit of coffee whenever I’m making anything chocolate. It’s my secret chocolate-booster tip, y’all.
After everything is added mix it with a fork, stirring just until incorporated. Then bake.
How Long To Bake A 8×8 Crazy Cake?
The cake bakes in a preheated 325ºF oven (for my glass baking pan) for 35 – 40 minutes.
Can You Double The Recipe?
Of course you can double the recipe for this crazy cake! A larger 9″x13″ size Crazy Cake serves about 20 guests.
Just double the ingredients into a 9×13 pan. Mine bakes in the same 40 minutes that a smaller cake would require.
How To Serve Chocolate Cake
There are many ways you can serve this chocolate crazy cake:
Au Naturel – it’s delicious just as it is with nothing else added!
Powdered Sugar – A light dusting gives it a little extra sumpin’.
Whipped Cream – This Whipped Cream Recipe is sweetened with honey instead of powdered sugar.
Chocolate Frosting – My favorite way to serve chocolate cake!
Simple No-Cook Chocolate Frosting Recipe
I most often use my favorite Chocolate No-Cook Frosting. This frosting recipe is made simply by by stirring together:
Softened butter
Vanilla extract
Coffee (of course),
Honey
Powdered sugar
You can see my decadent mix-n-frost Chocolate Frosting Recipe HERE.
How To Make A Poke Cake
If you want, you can use a wooden spoon to poke holes in the cake and pour the frosting on the hot cake, causing the frosting to melt into the holes for a delicious poke cake version.
Fast, Easy, Company-Worthy Crazy Cake
This chocolate crazy cake has become my go-to cake when I’m expecting company. So simple, so chocolaty and so amazingly delicious!
I’ll share the recipe the way I bake it below. And I’ll also include a link to my frosting recipe. Give it a try!
Looking For Other Crazy Cake (ie: Wacky Cake) Flavors?
Chocolate is BY FAR my favorite. But if you’re looking for other crazy cake flavors:
Chocolate Crazy Cake Printable Recipe
So don’t wait – you can whip this chocolate crazy cake up right now! The printable recipe is below:
Did you make this Chocolate Crazy Cake? Please rate the recipe in your comment below!
DEPRESSION-ERA CHOCOLATE CAKE (ie: Crazy Cake) 8"x8" pan size
This cake recipe comes from the depression era when households were rationed on such things as eggs, milk & butter. So this recipe doesn't include those ingredients, yet it's delicious, moist and surprisingly chocolaty. Bakes up in an 8x8 size pan. #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 4 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
Wet Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 1/4 Cup Cold Coffee
- 5 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon White Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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In an 8"x8" square baking dish, measure the dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa. Blend lightly with a fork.
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With the back of the measuring spoon make two small indentions in the dry ingredients. With the back of a measuring cup make one additional yet larger indention. In one of the small indentations pour 1 teaspoon vinegar, in the other small indentation pour 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. In the larger indentation add 5 Tablespoons vegetable oil. (I don't know why the wet ingredients are separated this way, but this is what the recipe called for so I always do it)
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Pour coffee / water mixture over all and mix with a fork just until thoroughly blended. Place baking pan on the middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Mine always takes 40 minutes)
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Bring cake out of oven and cool. Top with your favorite frosting, or just slice and enjoy the cake plain - great for the kid's lunchboxes.
Recipe Notes
Note: Optional no-cook chocolate frosting for an 8x8 cake:
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons softened butter
- 1 Tablespoon strong coffee
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
Blend to mix and frost a 8x8 cake.
Here’s the recipe for a larger 9×13 sized cake:
DEPRESSION-ERA CHOCOLATE CAKE (ie: Crazy Cake) - 9"x13" Size
This chocolate crazy cake recipe (or wacky cake) is baked in a 9x13 baking dish & serves around 20 people. Sweet, chocolaty, delicious and OH so easy to bake up. Requires NO eggs, butter or milk for unfrosted crazy cake. But a delicious no-cook frosting recipe is included if you're so inclined! #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Wet Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons White Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 10 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 Cup Cold Coffee
- 1.5 Cups Water
Instructions
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Grease an 9"x13" square baking dish. Measure the dry ingredients into the greased dish and blend lightly with a fork. Make two indentions with the back side of measuring spoon and one larger indention with back of measuring cup.
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In one of the small indentations pour 2 teaspoons vinegar, in the other small indentation pour 2 teaspoons vanilla. In the larger indentation add 10 Tablespoons vegetable oil.
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Pour coffee / water mixture over all and mix with a fork just until thoroughly blended. Place baking pan on the middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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Bring cake out of oven and cool. Top with your favorite frosting, or just slice and enjoy the cake plain - great for the kid's lunchboxes.
Recipe Notes
Note: I like to frost with my no-cook chocolate frosting:
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons softened butter
- 2 Tablespoons strong coffee
- 6 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions
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Combine 6 tablespoons softened butter, 2 tablespoons strong coffee, 6 tablespoons cocoa, 2 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoon vanilla, and 2 cups confectioners' sugar.
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Whip until ingredients are fully combined and frosting is spreadable & fluffy.
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Frost cake or brownies while they are still warm.
https://texashomesteader.com/smooth-spreadable-no-cook-chocolate-frosting/
~TxH~
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Cakes, Pies, Cobblers
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Dessert Toppings
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Absolutely love the depression era recipes! We may need more recipes of this type please!
Me too, Linda. My grandma and grandpa married during the great depression and she made simple meals that were absolutely delicious! She really knew how to use what she had to keep her family fed. I’m nowhere the amazing cook grandma was, but I also strive to serve meals that are simple and uncomplicated. Our grandmothers knew! 🙂 ~TxH~
I know I have commented before but love the update with the new flavor options. I recently discovered the vanilla version and added lemon zest and blueberries to the top and it was great. Excited to try the carrot cake one.
Chocolate one is by far my favorite flavor Angela. But I love the other flavor options and figured our readers would too. Enjoy! ~TxH~
This cake is amazing and I get many complements when I serve it. I always add the coffee for more chocolate flavor in the cake and I always use the chocolate frosting with it too, although it would be good (and with fewer calories) all by itself if needed. Great recipe!
This is so easy and so good it should be illegal!
Morning, I have enjoyed this cake many times when asked to bring dessert to our family gatherings. Today I was asked to bring cake and know we would be at the Tiny house and did not want to bring all the containers with me I measured up everything placed in small containers and today dumped, stirred, poured, mixed and in the oven.
Joe did give me a funny look when I asked him to hold back some coffee for me but when he found out what it was for he was more than happy to help.
Love how we share ideas and recipes 🙂
That’s awesome Angela. We love this cake too, and I’ve pre-measured dry ingredients in a jar as you’ve mentioned to streamline preparation, noting the wet ingredient & baking information directly on the glass with a sharpie marker. It’s your very own (homemade) convenience food! ~TxH~
I remember when my mom first got a recipe from somewhere, that was similar to this. It was called “Mayonnaise Cake”, because it called for real mayonnaise instead of the oil and vinegar. Of course there’s egg in the mayo so that’s not truly an eggless cake. And then when I ate in the school cafeteria as a teenager during the 60’s our cooks were so proud of their “Wacky Cake”, the recipe being same as yours. It was something we kids all loved and was not expensive to make. We used to sneak over during gym and beg for leftovers. Heh!
TGIF my friend, Hallelujah!!
Do believe my menfolk would like to have some of this very cake tonight; thanks for the inspiration.
Looks good! You could probably do a spice version too and leave out the cocoa?
I know there are many ways to change-up this recipe for different flavors Nancy. But I always, ALWAYS make chocolate because the words “…leave out the cocoa” just do not compute for me. LOL ~TxH~
I made this cake last night in less than 10!minutes & it was really really good! My husband was so surprised at how good it was. Is there a recipe for maybe a vanilla cake like this ???? Thank you.
I am SOOO excited to try this recipe!! I am all about coffee in chocolate or icing, and you’ve done it here for both!! I just never know HOW to do it.
My grandmother made a cake years ago that I always called molasses cake, but I’m not even sure it was. But it was her icing that “took the cake”. 😉 It definitely tasted like it had coffee flavoring in it. I have been trying to find a recipe that is similar to hers. (Unfortunately, we never found her cookbook after she died.)
Thanks so much for sharing! I have pinned both the recipe and the recipe for the icing. 🙂
Thank You for posting this Tammy.
I used to make this all the time but then I misplaced my recipe and haven’t been able to make it for awhile.
I’m not much of a frosting eater so I usually just sprinkled alittle powdered sugar on time; sometimes using a stencil and making a fancy design on top.
I used to make this cake with my Gramma when I was as young as 2. I had to stand on a chair and she let me stir. I cooked with her until she died in 1966. I am 66 years old and my Gramma was born in the 1880s. I loved the cake then and I am so glad to see the recipe again. You made my day! Thank you. 🙂
I love chocolate cake! Before we had a refrigerator at the cabin I used to make a version of “War Cake” that I called Cabin Cake. Like yours, it included no eggs or milk and just a bit of margarine. It’s a heavy cake, but easy to make with items on your pantry shelf.
I’m thinking I’m going to need to make this this weekend (and, luckily, have all the ingredients on hand, woo!)! I’ve always liked the idea of homemade dessert, and have made plenty and plenty, but some of them take so many darned ingredients (I’m sure it’s worth it, but to have to buy extra things just to make a dessert seems wasteful, when I already have the baking staples!). It’s been crummy, rainy, Oregon weather this past week, and the weekend looks no different, so this will be the perfect pick-me-up for us! Thanks for sharing! 😀
I made what amounts to double this recipe. Sent some home with my daughter, put half in the freezer, and ate the rest. I didn’t bother with the three wells. It mixed up just fine. Added flour to compensate for our altitude. Good flavor and texture and easy, easy, easy.
I used to make this all the time, and the longer it sits the moister it gets. I think you will enjoy it more each day.
I was very surprised by the moistness of this cake Sharon. A couple of days after it was baked we had company & RancherMan offered them a piece of this cake. I cringed a little knowing it was a couple of days old but you’re right, it was still moist & delicious. This recipe has now attained the rank of my go-to homemade cake recipe! ~TxH~