Absurdly Easy Chocolate Cake

[down_to_earth]

This looks similar to an eggless/milkless/butterless chocolate cake recipe I have. Because I wasn't sure if it was truly vegan, I'd be hesitant to lable it that at church dinners.

I'm defeinately going to try this one. I think I may look for the PETA frosting recipe, as I was thinking about that earlier, when I thought about making my cake.

I guess the vinegar works better to miosterize the cake, as I've gotten compliments on the moistness of my cake.

Yum. Too bad it's after 10:30 or I would bake it now. :lol:

[down_to_earth]

I have this in the oven as I type. I just compared it to another recipe I have and got from another board and the ingredients, while listed in a different order, is identical. For baking my other recipe reccomends a 9x13 pan for 350 for 45 minutes. I put this one in two round pans. I'll look in about 17 minutes (I put it in at quarter til), to see how it's doing. Yum. It smells good.:D Oops. I think I only put in 1 cup of water.

In the past, I was hesitant to label this as vegan when I took it to church dinners. Now I know. :D

[down_to_earth]

It didn't taste as good, I thought. I dunno. I should have dumped more cocoa in, though. I took the other pan next door to my neighbors (after trying one) as a thank you for getting our mail last week and the week before when my husband and I were gone.

I'll definately make it again.:bobo:

[Banana1]

Could you throw in vegan white chocolate chips?

[Amy SF]

This is a really stupid question, but what kind of vinegar are we talking about, and what brand should be used? :confused:

[AngelOfDance]

I always use rice wine vinegar because I'm pretty sure it's milder than other kinds.

I don't think it really matters much... the vinegar is there to react with the bsking soda and give the cake leavening. I think every kind of vinegar reacts pretty much the same way.

[marina13]

you could also use distilled white vinegar.

[down_to_earth]

I use the regular white vinegar. It's the same stuff I buy for cleaning. (I put half vinegar and half water in an old glass cleaner bottle.)

My MIL mentioned tonight that she had to take something to a potluck on Sunday. I told her that a chocolate cake from scratch sounds impressive. I told her about my recipe that has no milk, eggs, etc. I almost said it is vegan, but she wouldn't have gotten that.

Yum. Now I want some.

[4EverGrounded]

I know this recipe but we always called it "wartime cake" or "war cake".

During WW2, eggs were really hard to get unless you had your own chickens, so housewives figured out how to do things like make cakes without eggs. Baking a cake for someone was a biiiig thing back then and this recipe was perfect because most households had the ingredients on hand anyway.

My goodness, that recipe sure brings back some memories for me *takes a little trip down memory lane and decides to make this cake soon*

[zeenes]

I just tried this modifying this recipe. I cut it in half, added two extra Tbsps of cocoa, used unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil, used splenda in place of the sugar, and put it in an 8x8 pan. It was quite possibly the worst thing I have ever made. Now my place smells like delicious chocolate cake but I have nothing to show for it! So, just a bit of advice to those who try it - don't do what I did. Follow the recipe. :-/

Edited to add: I tried it again, this time using oil (still halved, still splenda). Maybe my baking soda is too old, or I beat it too much, or something, but it's still not right. It's only about 3/4" inch tall, and tastes off. *sigh* I'll have to try it again some other day.

[Poppy]

Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the first vegan dessert that I have tried that I can actually make for "omnis" and not be embarrassed! It's really yummy, and I will put this recipe in the "keeper" file!

[mistakes]

i've made an almost identical recipe many times before and it is great

the best part is nobody can tell!

[DannyKass]

I baked this the other week.. and it took like.. almost 2 hours to cook.. and then was 1/2 uncooked and 1/2 burnt. LEGEND.

[AngelOfDance]

maybe your oven was too hot, DK?

[Cinnamon toast]

Made this recipe yesterday, as always, terrific!

I made them as cupcakes and frosted them with a store bought white frosting (might be Betty Crocker? - it was vegan anyway) and topped with rainbow sprinkles.

Quick. Easy. Yummy!

[*Cringe*]

This is sooo good. I baked it the amount specified and it came out great but I like my cake a little bit undercooked so it's nice and soft... I tried some vegan icing from a different website but it was waaay too sweet even after I tripled the cocoa to try to dumb it down a bit. As I'm not vegan my mom is eating it talking about how fluffy it is and asks how many eggs. I say "none" and she just kind of stares at me... "none?" "Nope." blink. "Really?" "Nope." "hmm."

[misq17]

I made this a couple of days ago and it's really yummy. I used half the recipe and added and extra tbs of cocoa. It's really really moist even a few days latter and the batter is yummy raw :lick:

I had a bit of an incident when I poured it in the pan though, I think because the batter is so thin. I was using one of those pans with a removeable bottom and I put it in the hot oven without realized it was leaking out everywhere. I thing the pan may have been screwed up because I poured it in a different removeable bottom pan and put it on some aluminum foil in the oven and it barely leaked. It made a bit of a mess in the oven but was worth it. Would have been even better if I had made chocolate icing

[inie]

I tried this cake, and I was surprised at how soft it turned out. I used too much baking soda though, and you can taste it in the cake... Next time, I'll also use more sugar, and less cocao, since the cake tuned out black... brown is ok by me:)

[froggythefrog]

This cake is awesome, and an absolute dead-ringer for an omni cake! I brought mine to a friend's house this weekend, and he commented on how good it was and asked me for the recipe. Everyone loved it and I am the only vegetarian in the crowd.

A few comments: I added 2 tbsp more cocoa per other poster's advice. This made the cake really nice and chocolatey. :)

On cooking time, 30 minutes really means 30 minutes. I took one of the cakes out of the oven after 20 minutes or so just to stick a knife in and test it. It started to fall! (But it did not fall enough to affect the texture of the cake.) Leave them alone until they've completed the baking time, then test them.

This cake is also known as "war cake". (Thanks, TNS) It's yet another resource-saavy recipe originating from the World War II US.

[froggythefrog]

Also, if you've never baked a cake in your life, this is the perfect cake to start with. It's easy.

Some tips for cooking cakes in general that this recipe does not mention:

Before pouring your batter in a metal or glass baking pan:

Spray your baking pans with spray oil... Cover completely. If you don't have spray oil handy, you can dab your finger with cooking oil and thoroughly cover the pan that way.

Flour the pan after oiling it: Sprinkle a dab of flour into the pan and then shift the pan around until the flour totally covers the bottom and sides of the pan.

If you're using a silicon pan, well you're just too wise for your own britches.... (You don't need to oil and flour, but that's why you bought that pan.)

Don't try to frost a hot cake! You need to let your cake cool down most of the way before you try to frost it. If you try to frost a hot cake, you'll tear it up.

Don't try to catch a cake coming loose from the pan. Then you won't have a small repair job on your hands like I did. ;)

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

This goes on my list of "Things to do in Albuquerque at Christmas"

1.) Eat chocolate cake...

[debatechick]

MMM I made this last night and it is seriously one of the best things I have tasted. I had some of the same cooking problems, the outsides done, but the inside not done at all, but I also wasn't thinking and using a very deep dish and so it was too thick to begin with. Next time I'll just divde it in two pans or find a bigger one.

Soooo good though.

[sarah_2777]

I live in England and noticed a lot of recipes on here use soy milk, is that the same as soya milk? I'd appreciate any help, I'm dying to try some of the recipes!

[wildflower]

yes, soymilk & soya milk are the same.

i am soo gonna make this cake tonight. i've only ever made a few vegan cakes, and they turned out only ok..not soft enough and people could tell they were vegan. i might make cupcakes and bring them into uni! :D see what people think.

i cant wait! :D

[Sharon]

I would like to make this cake for my family. We are at a high altitude and baked things are always hit and miss. Has anyone at up there made this succesfully, have any tips to share? I'm at about 7,000 feet.

Oh, I'd also like to use a fluted stoneware pan.

Any tips would be great.