This “Wacky Cake” is a Depression-era wonder – incredibly moist, bursting with chocolate flavor, and made without eggs, milk, or butter!

What is Depression Cake?

Depression Cake gets its name from the Great Depression. It is a type of cake that is usually made with no milk, butter, or eggs because those ingredients were expensive or nearly impossible to find during that time period.

Depression cake is also known as “wacky cake” or “crazy cake” because it is made without ingredients that would seem necessary for baking, but it works! This wacky cake is moist and fluffy, with a delicious chocolate flavor. It is topped with a simple poured icing that soaks into the cake, giving it a richness that belies its humble makings. A true testament to resourceful baking, it’s no wonder they call it “wacky cake” – the taste is crazy good!

This recipe comes straight from my Granny’s recipe box.

handwritten recipe card for "wacky chocolate cake". — Granny’s original recipe card for “Wacky Chocolate Cake”

When I was in high school, I used to make weekly lunch dates with my grandparents. I couldn’t get enough of their tales of growing up in a different era. It’s hard to imagine what they went through during the Great Depression and just how tough they were as kids!

This Depression Cake would be a special treat during the days when my grandparents were children. Food itself was often limited, so there wasn’t often anything leftover for decadence like chocolate cake. However, sometimes there were still occasions that called for a treat!

Because of the limited ingredients available, home cooks learned to be quite ingenious with what they did have on hand. Depression Cake is so delicious that it is still a popular dessert today!

— Stacey

Related: Another depression-era cake recipe is known as “Poor Man’s Cake” — it is our family’s oldest recipe and sweetened with raisins.

For your convenience in re-creating our Depression Cake Recipe at home, we’ve included shop-able ad links to some of the products and supplies used. Read our disclosure policy here.

Ingredients

3 cups All-purpose flour
2 cups Granulated sugar
6 TB Unsweetened cocoa powder – This gives wacky cake its rich chocolate flavor.
2 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Oil – When baking, use an oil with a neutral flavor, such as vegetable oil, canola oil, or even coconut oil.
1 TB Vanilla extract
2 tsp White Vinegar – This helps the cake rise, when combined with baking soda.
2 cups Water

Icing Ingredients

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
6 TB water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Kitchen Tools Used

9×13 inch baking pan
Wire whisk (or fork) to mix the cake ingredients
Mixing bowl (to make the icing)

Instructions

To Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F and coat a large baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Sift dry ingredients directly into the baking pan and whisk to mix. Scoop out one large hole in the middle of the cake mix and two smaller holes on either side of middle well.
Pour the oil into the middle well. Pour the vinegar and vanilla into the two smaller wells. It’s ok if the liquid ingredients overflow into the dry ingredients.
Pour the water on top of everything and stir to combine.
Bake 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, with no wet cake batter stuck to it.

The photos below show the three indentions, or “wells” that we made in our dry cake ingredients. Pour the vinegar and vanilla in the two wells on the sides and the oil in the middle well. Don’t worry too much about spilling over because it’s all going to be mixed together in the end!

Next, you’ll pour water over top of the entire cake and whisk everything together. That’s the beauty of this crazy cake recipe — you can’t really mess it up! You mix it all right in the pan!

Chocolate Icing Directions

Add dry ingredients to a medium mixing bowl.
Pour in water, two tablespoons at a time, mixing as you add.
The frosting is ready when it is thick, but pourable.
Pour the frosting over the cooled cake, spreading evenly. Allow to set before cutting and serving.

Prep Tips

Baking the Cake – Because we use a combination of vinegar and baking soda as the leavening agent, you don’t want to wait long to bake after preparing the cake mixture. Preheat the oven while you mix up the batter and get the cake into the oven promptly.
Frosting – To be as authentic as possible, we made our icing with water instead of milk. Granny’s recipe called for canned milk, which was much more common back then, but may not be as common in modern pantries. Even though the frosting is made with water, it is still surprisingly flavorful, and it soaks into the cake, making it quite moist. If you prefer, you can use milk in place of the water, for a slightly creamier icing.
Storage – Because this cake is dairy-free, it does not need to be kept in the refrigerator. Simply cover leftovers in the pan with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

More Chocolate Recipes To Try

Chocolate Depression Cake Recipe (Printable Recipe Card)

If you love this recipe, please rate it! We’d also love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

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