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Mary Carole Battle’s Mother’s Wacky Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting

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. They also call it Wacky Cake or Crazy Cake. It’s super easy to make and is totally dairy free and egg free.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, Chocolate, frosting
Servings: 1 9-inch cake
Author: Lora

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.