Wacky Cakes

I had to take cupcakes to Seth's class last week for his 6th birthday. This is a tricky task because there are so many allergies out there now. There are several kids in his class who are allergic to dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, etc. I wanted to try to take something that everybody could actually eat so that the allergy kids didn't feel left out. So I ran across this recipe for wacky cakes that used to be popular during the great depression when dairy and eggs were being rationed. They were actually pretty good, very moist. And you can make them any flavor you want with extract. I did lemon. The day I took the cupcakes was on April Fools Day, so I made the cupcakes especially wacky by making them look like veggies. I got this idea from a cute food website I follow, Our Best Bites.

Here is the Wacky Cake recipe for any other moms out there needing allergy safe treats for school, etc.

Allergy-Free Dessert Recipe: Kathy P's Wacky Cake

Recipe Information

Category: Cakes

Recipe Created By: Kathy Przywara

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour (see below for gluten-free options)

3 Tbsp cocoa powder (optional)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vinegar

5 Tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.

Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl and stir to combine.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until you get a smooth batter. Do not beat.

Pour into greased and floured pan (8" square or 9" round) or 12 cupcakes. Bake in oven until tests done - about 35 minutes for cake, about 20 minutes for cupcakes.

Comments

Wacky Cake is a classic recipe from the Depression era because of the rationing of butter and eggs. The original recipe I saw mixed it right in the pan. You mix the dry ingredients, make 3 holes and pour the wet ingredients in. You can not screw this up. I even accidentally left out the oil one time and they were still OK - a bit dense, but OK. I've made it in several versions and even gluten-free.

The vinegar cannot be omitted, unless another acid ingredient (see below for orange or lemon alternative flavors) is substituted, since the acid is crucial to making this rise.

Substitutions

Vanilla: omit cocoa. Double amount of vanilla.

Spice: omit cocoa. Add 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice.

Orange: omit cocoa & vinegar. Substitute orange juice for the water.

Lemon: omit cocoa. Substitute lemon juice for vinegar. Some lemon extract can be added.

Gluten Free: Substitute 1 3/4 cups GF Flour Mix for wheat flour. Add 1 tsp xanthan gum. Works well with Kathy P's All Purpose Rice Flour Mix.

Others have used the following rice free sorghum blend:

1 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato or cornstarch

1/4 cup tapioca starch

If you prefer using bean flours, you can also use:

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup bean flour (garbanzo)

1/2 cup potato or cornstarch

1/4 cup tapioca starch

This recipe is free of:

Milk Peanut Egg Soy Tree nut Corn

Gluten Wheat Fish Shellfish Sesame

Other