throwback Thursday...Wacky Cake/War Cake

How the beautiful Eastern Bluebirds know when April has arrived is beyond me. These lovely, migratory birds always seem to return on schedule each year, and can now be seen flitting around the yard and busily building nests. Every so often I'll catch a quick blur of blue, and then before I know it, it's gone.

Photo Source: Here

Here the weather is chilly again, dropping 50 degrees after a high of 83 degrees on Saturday...oh that Mother Nature! Still, there is beauty all around...wandering outside (bundled up today) the air is filled with the fragrance of golden-yellow daffodils, pretty pink magnolia and redwood blooms, and the tiniest lilac buds. Here & there tulips and hyacinths lift their heads and nod in the breeze. Later in the evening, we'll hear the peppers (small tree frogs) from a creek in the woods. Ahhh, April...simple and uncomplicated.

Today's throwback recipe is Wacky Cake or War Cake...a 1940's recipe.

It's my understanding that during the Second World War, when rationing of sugar and dairy was probably throwing all young housewives into a tizzy, this recipe was created. 

Made with no eggs, butter, or milk, it relies on the science of vinegar and baking soda to make the cake rise. Stirred together and baked all in the same pan, it couldn't be easier!

Wacky Cake - War Cake

1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

4 T. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 T. white vinegar

1 t. vanilla extract

6 T. vegetable oil

1 c. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an ungreased* glass or ceramic 8-inch square pan (not metal), add first 5 ingredients; stir with a fork to combine.

Make three wells in the dry mixture, adding vinegar to one, vanilla to a second, and oil to the third. Pour water over all; mix with a fork until combined. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until tests done in the center. Cool before frosting.

Frosting

1 c. butter, softened

2-1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 T. vanilla extract

Cream butter until smooth; stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. Continue to mix until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

 

Changes:

*ungreased glass or ceramic baking pan

I lightly sprayed my ceramic baking dish with non-stick spray...while it may not have been necessary, I just felt it might stick if I didn't.

I have to say it tastes terrific! As a child of the "boxed cake mix" generation, this is so easy to make and has such a rich, chocolaty taste, I'll never go back to a  boxed mix again. I hope you'll give it a try...truly, it couldn't be easier!