Madhuram's EgglessCooking.com | Eggless Recipes | Egg Free Baking

Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake

February 16th, 2009 Madhuram Posted in Cakes, Food Blog Events, Vegan Baking | | 60 Comments »

This chocolate cake recipe has been around for decades. It’s also called the Whacky cake or the Depression cake. But let me tell you, the taste and texture of the cake is definitely not whacky or depressing. It’s unbelievably moist and tastes like any regular chocolate cake especially with the frosting. At first I didn’t tell my husband that the cake has vinegar in it, so he was not able to tell any difference. He liked the cake very much even after I told about the secret ingredient. But since I knew about the vinegar I was able to feel a very very very mild smell/taste. I guess it’s psychological. I have to stress here again that when eaten with the frosting this chocolate cake is so delicious. This vegan chocolate cake recipe is definitely a keeper. I’m already thinking of the variations I can make each time.

I also wanted to prepare a vegan frosting for this cake, but I didn’t have confectioner’s sugar. Actually I have it somewhere but was not able to find it. I have made a pact that I won’t be buying anything other than dairy products, vegetables, fruits and other extremely necessary groceries for the next 2 months. Recently I did a pantry audit and was overwhelmed by the things I had accumulated in the past months, especially after starting this blog. I didn’t even know that I had bought so much baking/cooking stuff. That’s why I didn’t want to buy confectioner’s sugar, even though I was so tempted to run to the grocery store.

I was wondering what to do for the frosting without the sugar because all the recipes I had called for confectioner’s sugar. I had a few packs of instant pudding mixes and thought how it would be for a frosting. I googled and found that pudding mix frosting is very common. Luckily I had the Cool Whip topping which is required for the frosting. Even though I was skeptical, I had to proceed with it anyway because I had no other go. Surprisingly it did turn out good. So the frosting is not vegan.

• Cake Ingredients
• Cake Procedure
• My Notes
• Pudding Mix Frosting

Cake Ingredients

Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used bleached) 1 and 1/2 cups

Sugar 3/4 cup

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Baking Soda 1 teaspoon

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I used Hersheys) 1/4 cup

Vanilla Extract 1 and 1/2 teaspoons

Canola Oil 1/3 cup

White Distilled Vinegar 1 tablespoon

Cold Water 1 cup

Yield: One 8 or 9 inch cake or 8 cupcakes.

Cake Procedure >>

Cake Procedure 1 Preheat the oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Lightly oil the cake pan you are using.

2 Stir together all the dry ingredients (flour to cocoa powder) and create a well in the center.

3 To the well add all the wet ingredients one by one. Mix until just combined. Don’t overmix. It’s ok to have some lumps.

4 Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Mine was done by 24 minutes. If baking cupcakes, check around 13-15th minute.

5 Cool completely on a wire rack. I left it for an hour.

6 To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.

7 Cool completely before frosting. Actually frosting is not even necessary for this moist cake. You may simply dust with confectioner’s sugar and top with fresh raspberries.

<< Cake IngredientsMy Notes >>

My Notes 1 I read that apple cider vinegar is better than white distilled vinegar when it comes to baking, because you will not even have that very mild smell or after taste I was referring earlier.

<< Cake ProcedurePudding Mix Frosting >>

Pudding Mix Frosting Ingredients:

Milk cold – 1 cup

Instant Pudding Mix, any flavor One 4oz pack (I used Oreos cookie flavor, 4.5oz pack)

Cool Whip, thawed One 8oz container (I used fat free)

Procedure:

1 Pour milk into a large bowl. Add the pudding mix. Beat until fluffy for 2 minutes.

2 Blend in the thawed Cool Whip thoroughly.

3 Frost the cake/cupcakes and refrigerate it at least for 3-4 hours before serving.

My Notes:

1 This frosting is not very sweet, but it was perfect with the cake and for us. We don’t like overly sweet cakes and frosting.

2 This measurement will be right for a 13×9 inch cake or a layer cake. I had at least a cup of frosting left over, which I intend to serve in ice cream cones for my son.

<< My Notes

This chocolate cake recipe goes to:

1. Egg Replacement Event – Vinegar hosted by me.
2. Just for You hosted by Alka. I made this cake for Valentine’s day for my husband.
3. My Favorite Things – Heart Shaped Food hosted by Bindiya.
4. Cook and Create with Luv for Luv hosted by Priyanka.

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Tags: all purpose flour, baking soda, Canola Oil, cocoa, cool whip topping, instant pudding mix, milk, salt, sugar, Vanilla Extract, vinegar

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60 Responses to “Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake”

Pages: [6] 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All

1. 60
   Vijaya Says:
   August 28th, 2010 at 10:43 pm

   Hi Madhuram.
   I made this cake for the second time today – for my Wilton Course 1 graduation class tomorrow. It came out AWESOME. I think this is a foolproof recipe and I would choose to make it in a heartbeat! Thanks a lot for this wonderful recipe.
   Vijaya

   Yes it is a foolproof recipe Vijaya. I too have tried it a couple of times and it makes excellent cupcakes too.

2. 59
   Max Says:
   August 9th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

   Awesome; as a 19 year old guy that is out of eggs, I can say this is an awesome recipe. Thank you.
   
   You’re welcome Max.

3. 58
   Anne Says:
   June 14th, 2010 at 6:56 am

   Thank you! this is very delicious chocolate cake recipe. I am really enjoy reading your post. This is a best cake recipe.
   
   You’re welcome Anne.

4. 57
   Rupa L Says:
   May 9th, 2010 at 10:25 pm

   Thanks a lot for your advice Madhu.
   The eggless cake you made using Yogurt…are you meaning the one which has a Rainbow decoration / icing in the photos of your website ? (Eggless Vanilla Cake and Cake Decorating Tips)
   Oh i ddin’t know a simple thing like Yogurt would work magic on a box mix….cool idea.
   THANKS for help once again

   Yes, it is it Rupa. As I have mentioned in the post I’m not telling that its the best eggless white cake but a simple one to put together with very minimal ingredients.

5. 56
   Rupa L Says:
   May 4th, 2010 at 9:35 pm

   Made this cake today.
   It was awesome. Thanks madhu for sharing the recipe.
   Question: If i want to make this as a 1 layer cake should i halve all the items in the cake mix recipe you gave.
   THANKS !!
   - Rupa

   Rupa, the recipe already is for just one layer only. It’s for an 8 inch or 9 inch cake.

6. 55
   Rupa L Says:
   May 2nd, 2010 at 1:02 pm

   Can i icing that you prepared using the cool whip be piped ?

   Rupa that icing cannot be piped.

7. 54
   Rupa L Says:
   May 2nd, 2010 at 1:01 pm

   Hey Madhuram,
   Have you tried making eggless cake from the ready pack of cake mix (eg. Betty Crocker) available in the grocery store.
   I want to make using the ready cake mix but don’t know how to replace the 3 eggs that they call for.
   I looked through most of your recipes but i guess you have done all from scratch !!…you have a lot of patience
   Any suggestions ?
   Thanks
   luv
   -Rupa

   Rupa I once made a white cake from a cake mix using 1/4 of plain yogurt for each egg to be replaced and it did turn out good.

8. 53
   Rupa Says:
   May 2nd, 2010 at 7:31 am

   Hi Madhuram,
   Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipes.

   i have a question.
   Can i replace the 1/4 cup Cocoa in this recipe by 1/4 cup of any flavored pudding mix eg: Strawberry pudding mix to create strawberry flavored cake ?
   Do you think it will work ?

   Thanks
   - Rupa
   
   Rupa that’s a very nice idea. You have to try it out to see if it works. I think you would have to reduce the quantity of sugar little bit because the pudding mix already has sugar in it. If you try please let me know.

9. 52
   madeline may write » Blog Archive » Vegan Baking… That Isn’t Terrible Says:
   April 17th, 2010 at 3:47 pm

   [...] and the easiest to make, too. I got the recipe from a friend, who’s vegan, who got it from an eggless-cooking blog. A depression-era food, this chocolate cake’s secret ingredient is vinegar. [...]

10. 51
    Julia Says:
    March 2nd, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    This is the best cure for depression. I love it. Next I’m gonna try to make it with some nuts and chocolate bits in it. I love baking but I have had some trouble with baking without eggs. This is absolutely the best cake ever. Thanks for the recipe.

    You’re welcome Julia.

Pages: [6] 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All

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