Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake

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(from 45 reviews)
196
vegan chocolate cake

This vegan 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 this chocolate cake are 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 it was a chocolate cake with vinegar, 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/after-taste. I guess it's psychological. I have to stress here again that when eaten with the frosting this chocolate cake without eggs or dairy 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.

Vegan Chocolate Cake For Valentine's Day

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. So that's a cool think about this vegan chocolate cake recipe too.

You really don't need to have any special ingredients. Not even eggs, butter or milk. If you bake regularly you would definitely have cocoa powder at home.

Vinegar is also a very common household ingredient. A chocolate cake with vinegar can be baked in no time without much ingredients.

I read in a couple of recipes that this vegan chocolate cake tastes good by itself or just sprinkling confectioner's sugar on top should be good enough. I was wondering what to do for the frosting without the sugar because all the recipes I had called for confectioner's sugar.

Since I was baking it for a special occasion I wanted to frost it. 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.

TOP RATED

Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe

Prep TimeCook TimeMakes
15 Mins32 Mins + 1 Hr CoolingOne 8 or 9 Inch Cake OR 8 Cupcakes.
AuthorCategoryMethod
CakesBaking
Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake
5.0 from 45 reviews
Are you looking to make a very easy eggless chocolate cake? This chocolate cake recipe is not just eggless but vegan too. Don't worry hearing the word vegan, because it doesn't call for any special ingredients or difficult process. This is the easiest cake you will ever bake whether egg free or otherwise. Seeing the ingredients you might wonder, "what? chocolate cake with vinegar?" Try it for yourself and be ready to be surprised.
Ingredients for Cake:
  • 1 and 1/2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used Bleached)
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's)
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1/3 cup Canola Oil
  • 1 tablespoon White Distilled Vinegar
  • 1 cup Cold Water
Ingredients For Pudding Mix Frosting:
  • 1 cup Cold Milk
  • One 4oz Pack Instant Pudding Mix, Any Flavor (I used Oreo's cookie flavor)
  • One 8oz Container Thawed Cool Whip (I used Fat Free)
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 over-mix. 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.
Frosting Procedure:
  1. For vegan frosting recipes, Check out Vegan Butter-cream Frosting and Vegan Cream-cheese Frosting.
  2. Pour milk into a large bowl. Add the pudding mix. Beat until fluffy for 2 minutes.
  3. Blend in the thawed Cool Whip thoroughly.
  4. Frost the cake/cupcakes and refrigerate it at least for 3-4 hours before serving.
My Notes:
  1. For Cake: 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.
  2. For Frosting: 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.
  3. For Frosting: This measurement will be right for a 13x9 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.
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Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake

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196 COMMENTS

  1. priya

    Hi Madhuram,
    Baked this cake just now and it is cooling.I can tell you from the texture it has come out well.Intially when mixing the batter I was skeptical because the batter was liquidy..is this normal?Used apple cider vinegar
    Thank you for sharing a wonderful receipe.

    I think the batter was watery. Thanks for trying it Priya.

  2. Anila

    Hi Madhu,
    I tried the cake for Badri’s and MIL’s b’day.It came out well.Thanks for posting the recipe.

    You’re welcome Anila. Thank you for trying it and for the feedback.

  3. Sadhana

    Madhu
    I used apple cider vinegar, 1/2 the quantity of flour i substituted with Whole wheat pastry flour and another 1/2 with unbleached and then used turbinado sugar. The top portion is little crisp but inside it is very moist. Any ideas? Please let me know. Thanks.

    I’m guessing that it’s because of the sugar. Did you sprinkle some sugar on top of the batter?

  4. Mary

    I added one tablespoon of lemon juice, and I used baking soda.
    Thank you very much, the cake was so delicious :smile:.

    Thanks for the clarification Mary.

  5. Vaishali

    What a beautiful cake, Madhuram. I use vinegar in cakes to curdle soymilk, but I’ve never used it by itself. Good to know it turned out so well. Lovely job.

    Thanks Vaishali. The cake was really very good.

  6. roma

    Awesome! You have become a real pro at making chocolate cakes, Madhu! This one looks like a delicious black forest. Very neat work.

    Thanks Roma. What happened? Missing again. I keep checking your blog and see that you have not posted anything after the lemonade. Hope everything is fine with you! Take care.

  7. sheetal

    hi Madhu
    which one you will rate with highest score
    I CAN’T BELIEVE ITS CHOCOLATE CAKE or
    WHACKY CHOCOLATE CAKE.
    DONT MIND.
    JUST GETTING CLOSE TO YOU.
    BYE

    Sure, no problem Sheetal. I was also thinking about this. I would say both are equally good, because my husband liked both (who generally does not eat any baked goods. He kept asking for seconds for both the cakes.). But when it comes to ease of preparation, easy availability of ingredients (vinegar is available everywhere whereas silken tofu is not), healthier cake (vinegar cake uses only 1/3 cup oil, whereas the other one uses 1/2 cup, if you decided to bake only 1 layer, sugar also is less in the whacky cake 3/4 cup against 1 cup, I think Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake will score more. The only minute drawback, as I’ve mentioned in the whacky cake notes, I was able to smell the vinegar lightly when eaten without the frosting. Maybe it’s just me, my husband (who has an exceptional “nose-power”) was not able to smell it. If I think about it now I think the silken tofu cake was even more moist than the whacky cake.

  8. Ranjani

    Hi Madhu,
    Just made this wonderful cake! It is just awesome. My daughter absolutely loves it. I substituted one teaspoon of vanilla extract with orange extract and my family just loves it! Do you think the cake will be perfect if we do not use the cocoa powder at all? Just wondering if I can make any other type of cake with the same basic ingredients.

    Thanks once again Ranjani. Two weeks back I did try a similar recipe with vinegar, substituted cocoa with all purpose flour to make a simple white cake, but it did not taste good for me. The smell of vinegar was dominating and the inside of the cake was sort of sticky. But I’m going to post another recipe for a strawberry cupcake and that was very good.

  9. Priya Sriram

    Wow… Beautiful pictures Madhu… Can’t take my eyes off it. Looks delicious!

  10. Mary

    First of all: I love your blog 😉 and i am in love with this amazing cake.
    I made this cake yesterday and it’s fabulos :razz:, thank you very much for the recipe.
    I’ve changed a litlle bit the ingredients but I’ve respected the quantities, so instead of vinegar I used fresh squezed lemon juice, the baking powder was replaced by baking soda and water was replaced by unsweetened fruit tea.
    On top of the cake I put some fruit jam and sprinkled chopped walnuts.
    It’s a keeper, thank you 🙂 Ps Please excuse my english :oops:, I’m not a native speaker.

    Thank you very much Mary for your detailed feedback. It’s good to know that lemon juice works as well. Could you tell me how much juice did you use? Using fruit tea is such a great idea as well. By the way did you mean that you used baking powder instead of baking soda? I don’t see anything wrong in your english, it’s very good!

  11. bindiya

    One of the coolest pics I have seen recently. cake looks unbelievable!

    Thanks Bindiya.

  12. kay

    the frosting COULD be made vegan, with soy milk. Cool Whip IS vegan, believe it or not.

    Hi Kay, I assumed that it was made with milk. I used a store brand whipped topping and I had the box checked with the ingredients and found that it has less than 2% of sodium caseinate (milk derived). Maybe the Cool Whip brand does not use this. I’ll check it the next time I go to the store.

  13. Bharti

    Yup..this one is really popular. My cuz lives in a small town in India and she made it in her tiny little un-fancy oven about 20 years ago when I visited her. I always think of her when I make or see this recipe. It always surprises me that it comes out so well w/o the dairy. The first picture is lovely.

    Yes, it’s definitely a tasty and moist cake.

  14. laci

    Fab recipe… what do you use for frosting, because Itend to find most recipes for vegan frosting call for several sticks of margerine/shortening and about 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar… any slightly healthier alternitives, still vegan? Thanks! 🙂

    Thanks Laci. Actually I was going to try the following frosting recipe, but didn’t have confectioner’s sugar. I think this is pretty good when compared to the regular ones. It’s from the book 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian.

    Rich Cocoa Frosting
    1-2 tbspns margarine/butter at room temperature
    1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
    1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
    1/2 tspn vanilla
    3-4 tbspns fat free milk/non dairy milk

    Mix all ingredients, adding enough milk to make the consistency spreadable. Yield: about 3/4 cup.

  15. abc

    Thanks Madhuram
    You always keep upto your words. Good to know that chocolate version works well 😛

    You’re welcome abc. You should try this one. The next time I’m going to try it with whole wheat pastry flour.

  16. Pavithra Kodical

    Soft and delicious cake..Ohh its a treat for my eyes..Can i use jello instant pudding mix for frosting?

    Yes Pavithra, instant pudding mix should be used for this frosting.

  17. Cham

    When I looked on the net, many sites suggested that choco and vinegar pair really well. And I kept in mind only choco cake! Looks very moist ur cake and i love the beautiful frosting Madhu 😛 Hope u Had a wonderful V-Day!

    That’s true Cham. Last month I tried the same recipe but eliminating cocoa powder and using all purpose flour itself for the difference to make a vegan white cake, but did not like it that much. The smell of vinegar was overpowering.

  18. Soma

    So pretty! U know my daughter loves the Wacky cake they serve at their school lunch! She said this looks even better… much better:) U amaze me.

    Thank you very much Soma.

  19. Usha

    The cake looks moist and perfect, would love to give this one a try 🙂

    Sure, try it Usha.

  20. Priya

    WOw wat a gorgeous cake looks really moist n prefect…thanks for the slice madhu, would like to pick from the pic…Lovely!!!!

    Thanks Priya, my husband took the picture.

  21. Andrea

    This cake looks YUMMY… I’m working on not only becoming a better vegan (I’ve been a vegetarian for a while… ) but also am incorporating more raw foods into my diet. Do you have any dessert ideas for that? I’d love to post them for my friends on RawFoods…

    Thanks Andrea. I usually cut different fruits in bite size and top it with custard and nuts. (egg free custard powder is available in Indian grocery stores) Check out this, you might get some ideas: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/desserts,fruit

  22. A-kay

    Hey Madhu,

    Thanks for the comment in my blog – I was reading your blog pretty regularly during my MIA times, but just not commenting 🙂 I will try to participate in this event – I wanted to in the previous event itself. Lets see. I have done this cake in my pre-blogging days, and as you said, it comes out exceptionally well. I have ACV at home, may be I should give this another shot? 🙂

    -A-kay

    You’re welcome Akay. Would love if you could participate in the event.

  23. Alka

    Thanks for a lovely entry,i wish i could have it in real too(not just virtual)
    It looks so devilishly delicious ,i can’t get my eyes off it 🙂

    You’re welcome Alka.

  24. Happy Cook

    Wow this is the best moist chocolate cake.
    Beautiful and delicious.

    Thanks Happy Cook.

  25. Sunshinemom

    I saw this recipe too and this is what I had in mind for your event:) Nice to see it tried and tested!

    Yes SM, this recipe is everywhere.