Delicious Cinnamon Wacky Cake. No eggs, butter or milk needed to make this depression era cake.
Now that we are under stay at home orders which has never happened in my lifetime. I wanted to limit our trips to the grocery store. So, I tried to come up with ways to keep my family fed and make sure that they still had treats that they usually enjoy without having to add more trips to the grocery store.
I pulled out some old fashioned recipes from my great grandmother and made this delicious depression era cake without having to add in my dairy that is in short supply! Best part is that this cake is naturally egg free which is perfect for anyone with egg allergies!
What is a Cinnamon Wacky Cake?
A Wacky cake is also known as a depression era cake. I didn’t use the Depression Era Cake as the name because when you search the word depression you get suicide hotlines instead of the cake recipe that you are maybe looking for. So, instead I named it Cinnamon Wacky Cake. Sometimes these cakes are also called Crazy Cakes.
Why does this cake not contain eggs or milk?
This cake recipe is very old fashioned and comes from the Great Depression era. During the Great Depression milk, eggs, and butter were all rationed for families. That meant that families really didn’t have extra of these items so they had to get creative to use other things to bake with. Since this cake recipe came from a time when eggs and milk were in short supply it does not include these ingredients. I know it seems strange but trust me the cake is still delicious.
Could I use store bought frosting on this cake?
If you don’t want to use the cream cheese frosting that I have included you are welcome to use store bought frosting. I would recommend using vanilla frosting that’s sprinkled with cinnamon or cream cheese frosting like I made for this recipe. These cakes weren’t always frosted during the Great Depression so you can even skip the frosting all together.
What if I don’t have the spices needed for this cake?
If you don’t have the cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and ginger you can use some different spices. Personally, I would only recommend that you use pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice if you don’t have the other spices needed on hand. You can leave out the nutmeg, cloves and ginger out all together and just use the cinnamon if that is all that you have.
You might be interested in these other cakes:
Old Fashioned Berry Cornbread Cake
New York Fudge Chunk Sheet Cake
Cinnamon Wacky Cake
Equipment
- 9 x 9 cake pan
- Two Large Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 ½ C flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ½ C Canola oil
- ½ tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups cold water
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz pkg cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 C Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Using a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda,
- salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and ginger
- Make 3 wells in the dry ingredients
- Pour the vanilla into one well
- Vinegar into a second one
- Canola oil into the third one
- Pour cold water over the ingredients in the bowl
- Mix until combined and smooth
- Pour the batter into the glass pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean
- Cream Cheese Frosting directions
- Using a mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and mix until smooth
- Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix until combined
- Spread onto the cooled cake
- Sprinkle cinnamon over the top of the cake
- Place into the fridge overnight
- Cut and serve!
Notes
Nutrition
