Mary Carole Battle’s Mother’s Wacky Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting also known as the Chocolate Depression Cake. This cake recipe is from the Great Depression. You may also know it as the Wacky Cake or Crazy Cake. The cake is so easy to make and is totally dairy free and egg free.
Mary Carole Battle’s Mother’s Wacky Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting
cake from: All Cakes Considered
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar
6 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup cold water
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan (you could also use a 9-inch square cake pan).
In a large mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Make three holes in the dry ingredients; pour the vanilla in the first, vinegar in the second, and oil in the third.
Pour the cold water over the mixture. Stir the mixture together until it is no longer lumpy.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer cake to a cooling rack.
While cake is baking, prepare the frosting.
Fluffy White Icing-Marshmallow Frosting
mom’s recipe
1 cup of granulated white sugar (not powdered sugar)
2 egg whites, room temperature
1/3 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, bring the 1/3 cup of water, sugar, cream of tartar to a boil. Do not stir the sugar mixture as it will cause it to crystallize. Boil until you have thick clear bubbles ( should only take about 5 minutes and reads a temperature of 245 F). Be careful not to boil even 1 second longer. *(If a mistake happens and you do boil the sugar too long and end up with an amber colored sugar mixture, don’t throw it away. Add some heavy cream and you have an amazing caramel sauce. soon as it comes to a rapid bubble, because it will turn amber, and than you would have to quickly make a different recipe, and add heavy cream, which would be “caramel sauce”).
In a metal bowl, add all the egg whites, and beat the egg whites until starts to get a little thick and forms soft peaks. Set your timer for 7 minutes. Now slowly (take care and do not let this boiling hot sugar syrup burn you) add the sugar syrup only a little at a time and beat on high speed for 7 minutes.
On the last minute, beat in the vanilla extract. The frosting will be fluffy and light. My mom recommends adding a drop of food coloring if you want to be daring. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.
Mary Carole Battle’s Mother’s Wacky Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting
Ingredients
- CAKE
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 6 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 cup cold water
- FROSTING
- 1 cup of granulated white sugar not powdered sugar
- 2 egg whites room temperature
- 1/3 cup of water
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan (you could also use a 9-inch square cake pan).
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Make three holes in the dry ingredients; pour the vanilla in the first, vinegar in the second, and oil in the third.
- Pour the cold water over the mixture. Stir the mixture together until it is no longer lumpy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer cake to a cooling rack.
- While cake is baking, prepare the frosting.
- Fluffy White Icing-Marshmallow Frosting
- mom's recipe
- 1 cup of granulated white sugar (not powdered sugar)
- 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1/3 cup of water
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- In a medium saucepan, bring the 1/3 cup of water, sugar, cream of tartar to a boil. Do not stir the sugar mixture as it will cause it to crystallize. Boil until you have thick clear bubbles ( should only take about 5 minutes and reads a temperature of 245 F). Be careful not to boil even 1 second longer. *(If a mistake happens and you do boil the sugar too long and end up with an amber colored sugar mixture, don’t throw it away. Add some heavy cream and you have an amazing caramel sauce. soon as it comes to a rapid bubble, because it will turn amber, and than you would have to quickly make a different recipe, and add heavy cream, which would be "caramel sauce").
- In a metal bowl, add all the egg whites, and beat the egg whites until starts to get a little thick and forms soft peaks. Set your timer for 7 minutes. Now slowly (take care and do not let this boiling hot sugar syrup burn you) add the sugar syrup only a little at a time and beat on high speed for 7 minutes.
- On the last minute, beat in the vanilla extract. The frosting will be fluffy and light. My mom recommends adding a drop of food coloring if you want to be daring. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.
I used to make this cake all the time when I was in HS. It was a friend´s recipe and we called it Salad Cake because it had oil, vinegar and salt!
Look at that frosting!!! I'm not even sure you need the cake! 🙂
looks so tasty, love your lil helper too
Wow, what an interesting recipe! Could definitely work well for vegans too- although might have to get clever with the icing.
What a fun cake, and that frosting looks incredible!
The wacky cake I remember was made with a can of fruit cocktail :/ Yours has a lot more appeal!!! And 7 minute frosting reminds me of my mom…it was one of her favorites! Have a wonderful week, Lora!
The frosting looks so delicious… like clouds. I'd love to be your helper too!
Seems like a perfect cake for last-minute parties! It's good to have one fast, easy cake in the backpocket for emergencies, hehe! I bet all your baked goods get wiped out at a party! How can they not be? You bake the most delicious stuff.
this is the icing I wanted on every birthday cake when I was growing up. I don't think I'd made it for years but now I want some. Off to the kitchen! I can't wait to have a frosting moustache! (tmi?)
The icing looks spectacular. I like to try out new icing recipes, I am still looking for an exceptional recipe, your looks like it might be the one.
Wacky cake… =D
I have never heard of wacky cakes before…what a fun post! Thank you for sharing! I'm eating breakfast…but I'm already hungry for dessert, Lora! I hope you have a great Tuesday!
Yummy!
I love the name of the cake! And it sounds delicious, as well. Yum!
A delicious looking cake. And I love how you get the whole family involved!
Your wacky cake looks wonderful! My mom baked a similar cake called *war-time cake* as it had no butter nor eggs which had to be rationed during the 2nd world war. Pretty sure my mom got the recipe from her mom.
I think you get invited to impromptu dinner parties because you are the sweetest thing to have at any gathering, not the desserts you bring 🙂
I love love love Elisabeth's 7 minute frosting recipe. That is a winner. I wonder will I be able to get my niece involve with me in the kitchen next time :). Have a great week ahead! xoxo, Jo
I love this cake and the story behind it! Amazing how a little canola oil and cocoa can give you a moist, chocolate cake minus eggs, butter and milk. Well..the eggs,,or egg whites, rather, make an appearance in the frosting. I could eat a whole bowl of 7 minute frosting..easily! 🙂 It looks fantastic, Lora!
Oh god! Look at that frosting! I don't think it would even make it to that cake! Lol.
I just love saying the title of this blog post, not to mention it looks super yummy too!
This looks yummy! Love that icing!
It looks so pretty and the icing is perfect.
That frosting looks so, so good! And yes, the cake, too. 🙂 I bet every party you get invited too is just that much sweeter because of your presence and your awesome baked treats!
Hope you're having a great week, Lora! 🙂
I'm with the person who suggested that you don't need cake when you've got a bowl of that icing!
I make a reasonably similar cake to that, only with more cocoa (and less flour) and coffee instead of water. It's brilliant.
Hope you have a lovely weekend x
Love and easy cake, and this one looks perfect. The frosting looks so light and fluffy!
yes, one finds this Wacky Cake recipe in newspapers of the era and I've always wondered what it would come out like. Looks really great and I love one-bowl cakes. I also love seeing your kids bake.
Andrea
I learned to make this cake in the baking pan. It was so quick to mix with the 3 holes in the pan. We didn't butter the pan and it came out well.