This cake was popular during the Depression, and does not have eggs in it.

Crazy Cake

all-purpose flour

white sugar

salt

baking soda

cocoa powder

vegetable oil

white vinegar

vanilla extract

water

Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan.  Make three wells.  Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well.  Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.


Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing.


When I want chocolate cake, nine times out of ten, this is the cake I make.  Whether eaten plain, or my favourite way, which is sandwiched with dulce de leche and topped with chocolate ganache, it's brilliant!  One little thing though:  the directions are fine if you want to serve your cake in the pan, but if you want to unmould it for prettier presentation, your pan will need to be greased and floured, or brushed with bakers' secret (which is no secret: combine equal parts oil, shortening, and flour).  This means you should mix the cake in a separate bowl, but hey, it's still really easy and cleanup is minimal.

Now!  For all you people nervous about the vinegar:  there is a simple reason why it's there.  For a cake to rise, you need an alkali, and an acid.  When the alkali and the acid combine, they react with each other, giving off carbon dioxide, which is what makes the cake rise.  All cakes other than yeast cakes are risen this way.  The alkali/acid deal is present in baking powder (already mixed for you), and in recipes that call for baking soda (alkali) and, say, cream of tartar (acid).  In this case, you have baking soda (alkali) and vinegar (acid).  They react with each other and make the cake rise.  You CANNOT taste the vinegar, so relax, make the cake, and enjoy!

YUM!!
the first 4 time i make it i added chocolate chips YYUMMMMM it's the best chocolate cake i've ever tasted!!!!!!
i usually make half the recipe to fit in a small round pan, i also tried making it white by added cornstarch instead of cocoa powder and adding a tsp. orange zest, it was a beautiful orange cake!!
Thanks sooooo much for the recipe

I don't understand the bad reviews for this cake.  When I make a cake, this is the one I go to all the time.  I don't change the ingredients, but I DO change the method, so if anyone is interested I will describe.  I grease and flour two 9in cake rounds.  Sift all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Add the wet ingredients, and stir with a spoon until it's combined.  The vinegar will bubble with the baking soda.. it's supposed to.  The batter will be thin, but that's normal from what I can tell.  Although the recipe calls for a 13x9, when I baked it in that pan it took much longer than called for.  In the two 9in rounds, 30 minutes is perfect.  The cake is moist and there is ABSOLUTELY NO Vinegar taste.. AT ALL.  If you want a super duper chocolatey flavor, replace 1c of the water with coffee.  I know it sounds weird, but you won't taste the coffee.. only enhanced chocolate.  I'm no expert, but like I said.. every time I prepare the cake with this method, it is perfect.

I would give this recipe 10 stars if I could! My son was dignosed with an egg allergy about 6 months ago and I've been dreading his birthday ever since (it's this weekend)! I've been trying to get a decent egg free cake ever since. Last night in utter desperation I googled "egg free chocolate cake" (all my soon to be 3 year old wants for his birthday is an "chocolate Thomas (the Tank Engine) cake" - I found a 3-d train cake pan but every cake has flopped until today - until I tried the crazy cake - IT IS PERFECT - words cannot thank you enough! The only thing I would like to do now is try how to make the subsitition that amatullah suggested (cornstarch and orange zest instead of the cocoa) for an orange cake for my daughter's birthday - so if anyone knows how much cornstarch to use PRETTY PLEASE let me know!

This cake was delicious!  My father is undergoing chemotherapy and is on an extremely strict diet.  He couldn't eat eggs, so the recipe was a good base.  He also couldn't eat vinegar or chocolate, so Amatullah's suggestion about the orange cake conversion was great.  I substituted the cocoa with cornstarch and the vinegar with orange juice, and I added a teaspoon of orange zest.  I also exchanged the baking soda for baking powder.  It turned out perfectly!  If you're making the orange cake, I would suggest frosting it with Adora Marchi's "Mom's Buttercream Frosting," sprinkling a pinch of lemon zest over the frosting, and putting a slice of fresh orange on top.  Be sure to cool the cake completely before applying the frosting.  Thanks Amy and Amatullah; you made my father's birthday very memorable.

Wonderfully moist & flavorful - you'd never know this was egg free!
I usually halve the recipe & bake in an 8" pan for about 30-35 minutes (test for doneness).  Great when you want cake but not a huge panful.  Also makes great cupcakes (which freeze easily!)
I love how easy it is to change the flavors!  Our favorite is orange - just omit the cocoa & vinegar & use orange juice in place of the water (same amount as called for in recipe).

My mother made this cake for the last 40 years that I am aware of and it is always the best.  There is one difference in her recipe though, instead of two cups of water we use 2 cups of cool coffee, makes a BIG difference, try it.

I LOVE THIS RECIPE!!! I was also worried about the vinegar in the cake so I very tenatively tasted the batter...couldn't taste a bit of it. I am a total chocolate fiend and have been placed on a special diet where I can't have any dairy products I know what a chocolate cake should taste like and I was not disappointed in the least. I will most likely continue to make this recipe even after I can eat normal foods again! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

One of the better egg free chocolate cakes!!  Add 1/3 bag of milk chocolate chips to the batter and it is spectacular.  It really adds a lot to the chocolate sensation.

This cake was too sweet -- there are better recipes out there in my personal opinion.

This cake gets in name because you can mix it all in the baking tin! 

crazy cake

Servings: 5

Author : Amy Parsons

Ingredients

Instructions

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