Three things make this cake Wacky:
- You mix it right in the pan with a fork.
- It has no eggs.
- Vinegar is one of the ingredients.
Three things make this cake good:
- The ingredients are usually in the pantry.
- It’s a dense, chocolaty cake.
- A quick chocolate icing is spread over the chocolate cake.
Here’s what you’ll need:
*Update – I originally forgot the baking soda in the ingredients. I’ve added it now and I’m so sorry for the folks who made the cake without the soda. Thanks for letting me know I forgot.*
- 3 cups flour
- 6 Tbs. cocoa
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup oil
- 2 Tbs. vinegar
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups water
Stir together the dry ingredients in a 9×13 pan until well blended. Add the liquid ingredients, mixing right in the pan. Mix until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the cake completely before icing it. Here’s what you’ll need for the icing:
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 Tbs. cocoa
- 3 Tbs. milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Melt the first 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Don’t boil it. Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar. Stir in the vanilla. You may need to add more powdered sugar to get it to the right consistency.
Have you noticed the related posts at the end of each recipe? Reading the related posts for the desserts always has me drooling, especially the chocolate desserts – yum!
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Printing this out to try today. I’ll comment back after it’s done.
Thanks!
This looks terrific. I have a vegetarian daughter and I’m going to make it for her!
I’ve been making this cake since eighth grade Home Economics, where we learned how to make it…does anybody take Home Ec anymore? I even won a 4H fair ribbon using this cake.
The other great thing about this cake, no eggs in the batter, so your kids can help make it and lick the spoon and the bowl. I think i’ll have to make this cake this week.
Love it!
Karen, this is a great cake to let you kids make. I think it’s one of the first cakes I ever made, but I never won a blue ribbon with it – cool!
It’s my birthday today so I’m going to make this cake after lunch, and happy it does not include eggs as we are out LOL!
I love wacky cake! It’s one of the only cakes I can make for my egg-allergic son without using an egg replacer product. Yours looks delicious!
We have made this cake for decades. It’s delicious. Someone once told me that the recipe was developed during WWII when a lot of food items were rationed.
I love Wacky Cake! My grandmother made a coconut topping for hers. For a 9×13 pan you need 2/3 c. soft butter, 1 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. cream (I’ve used milk), 1 c. nuts, 1 c. coconut. Mix all ingredients together and spread on cake when it comes out of the oven. Place under the broiler and brown. It makes the Wacky Cake into a German chocolate-type cake. Thanks for the recipe, Tiffany , and keep up the good work!
It’s easy, it’s chocolate, it’s right up my alley : ) My boys and hubby will love this! Thank you!
Okay, I made it. It doesn’t taste real sweet, but I have to add the icing still. I may have messed it up. I only had Apple Cider Vinegar (didn’t know until too late) so maybe that is why it doesn’t taste sweet enough.
Also, mine was very “hilly.” LOL It has like rolling hills. Help? What did I do wrong?
Amanda, the cake isn’t real sweet. It’s more of a deep chocolate taste. The cider vinegar could have altered the flavor a bit though, but there isn’t that much vinegar in it so I don’t think it would too big a difference. The icing is pretty sweet.
As far as it being hilly, I don’t know. Unless you didn’t get the dry ingredients mixed well so that it rose more in some places than others. I have a knack for making very uneven cakes, so I’m not sure I’m much help!
Amanda, I always use apple cider vinegar. And it’s not a very sweet cake; I’ve seen this recipe in some cookbooks referred to as a “snack cake” (meaning it’s not a dessert cake, I guess!) As for the hilliness, while you can mix the cake right in the baking pan, I have always preferred to mix the ingredients in a bowl, using a whisk. Then I pour it into an ungreased pan. It can be tough to mix it thoroughly in the pan.
Also, you may want to check your oven temperature; if your oven isn’t heating properly, that can affect the rising of cakes.
Okay, I just made it and am sad. It didn’t rise because there wasn’t a leavening ingredient. I thought it was odd but thought maybe it had something to do with the vinegar. I now realize after looking at the recipe on other sites that it should have had baking soda in it. Just thought I’d let you know before someone else made it.
Nicole,
Yep, I think we had the same result. Tiffany emailed me after reading your comment. But, if I had paid attention to her picture I would have known to put in baking soda.
I am going to try again in a few days. I am sure it will be a big hit.
Tiffany, the cake looks so yummy! I am a cakeaholic!!!! Any ideas or suggestions on how to make to fit a 9 x 13? i have an in home daycare and a 9×9 just may not leave any leftovers for ME and we cannot have that :-} thanks
Marcie, this recipe does make a 9×13 pan so you’re in luck!
I make this cake often – as a lactose intolerant person it’s the only chocolate cake that tastes decent to me. I make is as an after-school treat. The house smells great and my girls love it. It’s also very economical – no eggs or milk!
Thanks for listing the recipe so neatly a long with the pictures! Saved me a lot of hassle at the market trying to figure out which things was the exact thing I needed!
I’ve made this several times and shared the recipe with friends who are teachers. (nice for science class) This is also good for feeding friends who are ‘vegans.’