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Vanilla Wacky Cake
Vanilla crazy cake is a depression-era white cake without eggs or milk that’s still moist and delicious!
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This easy recipe for vanilla crazy cake is made with only pantry staples. It’s also known as wacky cake or depression cake. This recipe originated in the Depression era and is a white cake without eggs or milk that’s still moist and delicious!
Vanilla Crazy Cake Ingredients
You’ll need:
For The Cake:
- 1½ cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of cold water
Wacky Cake Frosting:
- ½ cup of butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract (clear vanilla if you have it)
- 5 cups of powdered sugar
- ¼ cup of milk or more if needed for desired consistency
How to Make Crazy Cake (Vanilla Depression Cake)
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
STEP TWO: In an UNGREASED 9 x 9-inch pan, add the flour, white sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk the ingredients together in the pan.
PRO TIP:
You can also use an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan and increase your cooking time by 3-6 minutes.
STEP THREE: Use your fingers or a spoon to make a well in the middle of your pan and two smaller wells on each side of the center well.
STEP FOUR: Add the vegetable oil to the center well.
STEP FIVE: Pour vinegar into one small well and the vanilla into the other small well.
PRO TIP:
The vinegar is a must in this recipe. It reacts with the baking soda to give the cake the desired texture, doing the work eggs would do in other recipes. The cake does not come out tasting like vinegar!
STEP SIX: Pour cold water over all of the ingredients.
STEP SEVEN: Whisk together until combined. You can also use a spoon to help stir in the corners of the pan and mix until smooth.
PRO TIP:
If there are bubbles in your wet batter, gently tap your cake pan on the counter to release the bubbles.
STEP EIGHT: Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely before serving.
PRO TIP:
Keep a close eye on the cake at the 30-minute mark, as you don’t want to overbake it.
STEP NINE: Ice the cooled cake with frosting or powdered sugar or plain.
To make the frosting: place the melted butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk.
Mix together using an electric mixer until smooth. You may need to add additional milk to reach buttercream consistency.
Beat for 2-3 minutes scraping down the sides intermittently.
Crazy Cake Recipe Substitutions
COCOA POWDER: To transform this vanilla cake into a chocolate cake, add three tablespoons of cocoa.
LEMON: The lemon version of this cake is fresh and tasty! And it’s easy to make: add one tablespoon of lemon zest when you mix your dry ingredients and one teaspoon lemon extract at the same time you add your vanilla.
FROSTING: Instead of frosting, you can simply add sprinkles (rainbow sprinkles are the best) or powdered sugar to the top of the cake.
CUPCAKES: You can also use this exact same recipe to make cupcakes.
Fill your muffin liners ¾ of the way full and bake them at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a cupcake comes out clean.
How to Serve Vanilla Wacky Cake
Serve this amazing vanilla cake for any occasion.
Add a scoop of our vanilla ice cream on the side and whipped cream and hot fudge sauce on top to make this cake extra fancy. I guarantee this cake will get great reviews from all cake lovers.
Serve this cake with our iced tea, raspberry iced tea, sweet peach iced tea, or our southern strawberry sweet tea on the side.
Vanilla crazy cake is a twist on the original crazy cake, which is chocolate flavored.
Along with chocolate mayonnaise cake, all of these desserts can be made with ingredients that you already have on hand.
Our chocolate peanut butter crazy cake is another vintage recipe you’ll love.
How to Store Crazy Cake
IN THE FRIDGE: If your cake is unfrosted, you can store it in the fridge covered in plastic wrap.
If you frost your cake, allow it to chill in your fridge for 15 minutes and then cover it with plastic wrap. The cake will stay good in the fridge for up to five to seven days.
IN THE FREEZER: To freeze your vanilla crazy cake, wrap it in plastic wrap or an airtight container.
If your cake is frosted let it freeze fully first, uncovered, and then apply the plastic wrap.
You can freeze your cake in slices or whole. It will stay good in the freezer for four to six months.
This vanilla crazy cake (also known as Wacky Cake or Depression Cake) is an easy dessert to make when you want to skip a trip to the store. It’s a delicious cake without eggs or milk that’s still a decadent treat.
Depression Cake Recipe FAQs
What is Depression cake?
Depression cake originated out of a need to find replacements for hard-to-find or expensive ingredients during the Great Depression, such as eggs and butter. They were substituted for pantry standards, making this recipe easy to make even when you run out of typical baking essentials.
Can you freeze this vanilla depression-era cake?
This cake freezes well. It can be stored in plastic wrap in the freezer.
Is this wacky cake recipe vegan?
Since this recipe does not have any eggs or milk, if you leave off the frosting because it has butter in it, this cake is a great vegan cake option.
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Vanilla Depression Cake Recipe
Vanilla crazy cake is a depression-era white cake without eggs or milk that’s still moist and delicious!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 9
Ingredients
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In an UNGREASED 9×9-inch pan, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Using a whisk stir together the ingredients right in the pan to kind of sift it all together.
- Next using your fingers or a spoon make a good sized well in the middle and two smaller wells one on each side of the center well.
- Place the vegetable oil in the center well.
- Place the vinegar in a small well and the vanilla in the other small well.
- Pour the cold water over all of the ingredients.
- Using the whisk, stir until combined. You can also use a spoon to get into the corners and further mix until smooth. If there are bubbles in your batter, gently tap the pan on the countertop to release the bubbles.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven to cool completely before serving.
- Ice with frosting or powdered sugar or plain.
Video
Notes
To Make Vanilla Frosting:
You’ll need
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla (clear vanilla, if you have it)
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk or more if needed for desired consistency
- The recipe for both cake and frosting can be easily doubled for a 9×13 plan.
- If using an 8×8 pan, increase the cooking time by 3-6 minutes, as the cake will be thicker.
- The vinegar is a must in this recipe. It reacts with the baking soda to give the cake the desired texture, doing the work eggs would do in other recipes. The cake does not come out tasting like vinegar!
- If there are bubbles in your wet batter, gently tap your cake pan on the counter to release the bubbles.
- Keep a close eye on the cake at the 30-minute mark, as you don’t want to overbake it.
Nutrition
Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 271mg | Potassium: 22mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg
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Comments
Melissa says
Hi! I love crazy cake recipes and have made a chocolate version a bunch. I’d like to try out a vanilla version but as a round cake. Would it work with 2 or 3 8” round cake pans? Thanks!
Layne Kangas says
I haven’t done it as round cake, so I’m not positive! If you try, let me know! 🙂
Melissa says
Ok thanks! Will do 🙂
Mary says
I have made the chocolate version as a round layer cake many times, both as 2 nine inch and also as 3 eight inch. Both work but I prefer the nine inch.
Ann Pinter says
Can this recipe be used for cupcakes?
Layne Kangas says
I don’t think it would work for cupcakes as you just mix it up in the single pan. You can try our vanilla cupcakes if you’d like! 🙂 Enjoy!!
Aimee B. says
Ann, not sure if you’ll see this, I but wanted to let you know that I’ve been making various crazy cakes for years and have often made them into cupcakes. Just mix your ingredients in a bowl. I do my wet and dry separately because I find it easier. I add my wet to the dry and mix just until combined. I usually get about 10-12 cupcakes out of it. I bake in my toaster oven, so it only takes around 15 minutes or so, but your oven may be different, just bake accordingly. 🙂
Jayna says
I made this into cupcakes. I followed the same mixing directions (wet ingredients in wells), I just did it in a bowl instead. I still used a fork to mix because you definitely don’t want to over mix since you want the baking soda/vinegar reaction to really work since that’s what causes the rise. Then I poured the batter into a glass measuring cup and poured it into the cupcake papers. Came out GREAT! You do have to mess with the bake time as you would any other cake to cupcake recipe.
Jennifer Knight says
Thinking of adding fresh strawberries to the batter. Do you think it would work?
Layne Kangas says
Oh I’m not sure if it would change it too much? If you try it, let me know. I might just serve with strawberries to be safe? Enjoy 🙂
Chrissy Patrick says
Love this recipe make it into a sandwich cake just double quantities can add any flavours to it made loads different ones. Have hens that stopped laying hence use of this recipe
Trista says
It says this recipe can be doubled for a 9×13 pan would that be the 2x on top of the recipe I’m feeding a crowd. Thank you
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Trista – yes, it should work ok to double the recipe in a 9×13 pan. Enjoy!
Cecilia says
really easy to make.
Best vegan vanilla cake I have found.
I use it as a base for upside down cakes adding stewed fruit in the bottom of the tin and the made up mixture over the top.
Tonight I’m going to try adding lime zest to the mixture and swapping the water for coconut water. The aim is coconut and lime cake for my daughters birthday….hope it works🤞🤞
Cecilia says
So having used coconut water I still didn’t have the desired flavor of coconut so added descated coconut and bit more coconut water and a tablespoon of dried coconut milk powder quick stir, into a 6″ round tin which lined the bottom the into the oven until cooked.
When cooled wrapped in cling film i
left overnight cut in half.
Drizzled with a lime syrup
Filled and covered with vegan buttercream to which I added lime zest and syrup and descacated coconut.
I did find the buttercream was a bit on the sweet side so the filling have a light sprinkle of greater 45‰ vegan chocolate. It just took the edge off the sugar.
Our daughter loved her birthday cake 😊
Mission accomplished. 😄😄
SydToNey says
I put this in my air fryer using a cake pan. I put it on 350 and the settings on bake. I also used gluten free flour and rice vinegar. It turned out pretty good. The recipe was easy and straight forward. And I didn’t have to use three bowls so easy clean up. I’ll use this recipe for the future.