The Wacky Cake
Both Michelle Urvater, in Chocolate Cake: 150 Recipes From Simple To Sublime and Amanda Kludt, in the The Cherry Bombe Cookbook, (Claudia Wu and Kerry Diamond, Editors) offer this recipe, a simple and delicious classic. I’ve made only minor changes.
Serves 8 modest eaters or a few greedy people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels (optional)
confectioner’s sugar, for the top (optional)
Butter and flour, for the pan
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350F
You will need a 9-inch glass pie pan to bake the Wacky Cake. Read the notes before baking.
Lightly grease and flour the pan.
Mix the ingredients in a large bowl. Pour them into the pie pan. Bake for 35 minutes, or until top of cakes is springy, the sides are pulling away from the pan, and a tester comes out clean. Take care to avoid piercing morsels when cake testing.
That’s it. Cool the cake on a rack. Dust with confectioner’s sugar, if desired.
Wrapped in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, the Wacky Cake will keep at room temperature up to four days. To freeze the cake, slice in wedges, remove from pan, and double wrap in plastic wrap.
Notes:
The original recipe does not call for greasing and flouring, but it aids in removal for freezing. I’ve also dusted with cocoa instead of flour.
I’ve baked the cake with vanilla and almond extracts. It’s delicious either way.
Wacky Cake recipes simply read “vegetable oil.” I’ve used canola and sunflower oil successfully.
Many recipes I consulted were very specific about using a glass pie plate. Older recipes call for an 8-inch glass pie plate, which can be hard to find. I use a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate, which is inexpensive and widely available.