Saturday, 9 May 2020

The Simplest Chocolate Cake

Who knew chocolate cake was possible without eggs or milk or butter? I didn't until I went searching and found quite a few recipes for making chocolate cake without these staples.  Not only can you make a chocolate cake but you can make one that is sweet, soft and moist and perfect for topping with chocolatey icing and sprinkles.

Instead of eggs, milk and butter, there are recipes for chocolate cakes that use oil, vinegar, baking soda and water. All the versions I found were slight variations on a recipe like this one for Chocolate Depression Cake

πŸ’“ Chocolate cake with sprinkles.πŸ’“

The recipe I followed, for a One Bowl Chocolate Cake from Ashika over at the Gardening Foodie blog, is so simple and quick to make. Everything gets whisked together in just one bowl so less washing up too. I tweaked Ashika's recipe slightly, by replacing white sugar with brown sugar and reducing the total amount of sugar in the batter, so it's less sweet than it would otherwise be, but the chocolate icing and sprinkles on top, make up for that.


Simplest Chocolate Cake
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarb soda

Wet Ingredients:
250mls warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil 
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 180C. Line 20cm square cake tin.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in large bowl.
3.  Make well in centre of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients.
4.  Mix until combined and there are no lumps in the batter.
5.  Pour batter into cake tin.
6.  Bake for 15-20mins or until cake is slightly springy to touch and skewer, inserted into 
     centre of cake, comes out clean.
7.  Cool in tin for 10mins before turning out cake onto a cake rack to cool.
8.  Ice with chocolatey icing and sprinkles too once cake is completely cool.

I decorated this cake with a very simple chocolate icing made with pure icing sugar, cocoa powder and a little hot water. I sprinkled tiny, colourful 100s & 1000s, saved from the bottom of a packet of Freckles sweets, over the top for a bit of fun.

It's definitely possible to make a cake - a lovely chocolatey cake - without eggs, butter or milk. And, if you have sprinkles, it's even better!

Meg










16 comments:

  1. Looks like a good recipe Meg.

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    1. Hi Kathy. It's a good recipe to have on hand when short of staples like eggs and butter. I ran out of both and didn't want to go to the shop so looked for an alternative way to make cake. It turned out well and is now all gone! MegXx

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  2. It looks and sounds delicious. Thanks for the recipe. X

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    1. It's quite a nice cake, Jules, and is lovely with icing...and sprinkles!
      MegXx

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  3. It looks lovely, Meg. When I was growing up Mum had cook books with lots of recipes that were used during the second world war and it was common not to have eggs etc. available. People always made do and got creative.

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    1. Your Mum's cookbooks would have lots of interesting recipes in them, Chel. All the eggs were gone at the supermarket yesterday but luckily I got some with my fruit & veg order this week. MegXx

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  4. Yum! I do have eggs, canned milk and butter, so I am fortunate. I try to avoid baked goods, though. They seem to make me ache. They are so delicious, though! I love your colored sprinkles.

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    1. I usually use spelt flours in my baking, Stephanie, but I wasn't sure that would work in this recipe. I usually bake something each week to put into my son's lunchbox for morning tea, most often a slice or cookies. This was a bit of a treat, with school at home for now. MegXx

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  5. My mother used to make the same cake, she called it "Old Faithful" sometimes she would use a warm cup of coffee instead of the warm water. I make it now and then, I think it is really important not to overcook it otherwise it ends up too dry, although if that happens you can always make truffles from it :)

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    1. I saw the versions that use a cup of coffee instead of water, Pip. We don't drink coffee though so went with water instead. It turned out soft and moist thankfully. I'm not a fan of dry cake though truffles sound yummy. Lovely that you sometimes cook this cake like your Mum used to. MegXx

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  6. That looks delicious 9Chocolate cake is my very favourite) and I will print down the recipe for when I don't have eggs, butter and milk so I don't have to go without - in fact I might just try it anyway. x

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    1. It's definitely a good 'stand-by' recipe for times when staples are running low and you feel like cake. The icing jazzes it up too. MegπŸ™‚

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  7. Ooooh another recipe to try. Thank you Meg.

    I make the depression cake, but the recipe has 1 cup of sugar and I feel that is too much so I cut it down. Same with the cocoa, I find it too rich so cut that down too. I will try your recipe next, it looks delish!

    xTania

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    1. I always reduce the amount of sugar in most of the things I bake, Tania. They usually turn out fine. I hope this recipe works well for you when you try it. Happy baking! MegπŸ™‚

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  8. Dear Meg,

    I am very sorry to read in your comment on Rhonda's DTE blog, that your lovely Sir Steve has been unwelI. I hope he continues to improve and makes a complete recovery.

    Sending you both a hug and my best wishes.
    Maria xx.

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    1. Thank you so much for your thoughts and well wishes for Sir Steve, Maria. He is improving with better balance and control in his back legs now. He had us very worried. We are hoping for more good news on Friday afternoon when we see the vet. MegXx

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