Eggs are the bane of my baking existence. One of my favorite chocolate cake recipes yields two layers or two dozen cupcakes, but on days where I don’t need twenty-four sinful temptations, I’d rather cut the recipe in half. The problem? It calls for three eggs.
How in the world do you split three eggs in half? Do you use one egg and one egg white? Do you crack the second egg into a bowl, scramble it up, and pour half down the drain? Or do you just use one egg and keep your fingers crossed that the cake stays moist?
It’s a huge predicament!
How’d I solve the problem? I omitted the three eggs altogether. Yes, that’s right. A cake with no eggs.
I found this recipe a few weeks ago, and although it looked deceptively easy to whip up, I didn’t have high hopes. So few ingredients, and no butter, milk, or eggs. What kind of cake was that?
The moistest chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. And it’s vegan.
After serving it to multiple people, I never spilled the vegan secret. They all agreed—without knowing it was vegan—that it was deliciously moist and delectable. And watching their jaws drop in utter shock was the icing on the cake!
Simple Chocolate Cake
adjusted from Cindy’s Chocolate Cake
I’ve found that that the easiest way to cut the cake is by using a large bread knife and gently wiggling it into the top of the cake until the blade breaks through the surface, then pressing straight down. If desired, sift powdered sugar on top once the cake has completely cooled.
1½ c. flour
1 c. sugar
⅓ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ c. vegetable oil
1 tbsp vinegar
½ tsp vanilla
1 c. warm water
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 10” round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients (flour through salt). Make three large indentations in the dry ingredients, and pour the vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla into the holes. Pour the warm water over the top and stir until just combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 23-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
My cocoa cake is almost the same recipe (I cut the sugar and cocoa in half and use an 8″ pan). I arrived at it by de-oranging an accidentally vegan orange cocoa cake, but it’s also very much like depression-era “wacky” cakes – funny how we keep coming back the the same stuff.
This recipe is great because it not only blasts away the yukky-vegan-dessert bias, but also the vegan-cooking-takes-weird-ingredients bias.
I top mine with powdered sugar and serve the first day when it’s still kind of crunchy.
I talked with a number of people after making this cake, and many of them said it was a common cake from the War Era when eggs and dairy were scarce. Pretty neat!
I agree, this dessert definitely blows those stigmas out of the water. I love how the cake only uses common ingredients; I didn’t have to buy a single one!
Thanks for stopping by!
Oh this is one of my problems! how on earth do you divide a raw egg in half..
will have to try your vegan cake and I PROMISE to keep the secret 🙂
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one with the egg problem. I hope you enjoy it!
HI! JUST WONDERING IF YOU KNEW HOW MANY CALORIES WERE IN THIS CAKE? IT WAS DELICIOUS!
This is the Nutrition Calculator that I use for all of my recipes, if you’d like to know! I hope you enjoy the cake if you try it Sophie!