Wacky Cake can be made gluten free with this Gluten Free Wacky Cake recipe!
Wacky cake is not your typical cake. It got its name from the fact that it is not your normal cake recipe. It doesn’t contain milk, eggs, or butter. It has vinegar in it which most cakes don’t have.
The original version contains regular flour, but we are making it gluten free!
Wacky Cake is also known as Crazy Cake or Depression cake. The recipe originated back in the days when ingredients were hard to get.
A recipe like Wacky Cake worked during both the Depression and WWII because it was a simple cake that contained no butter, no eggs, and no milk. Those ingredients were hard to find making dessert a special occasion.
A Wacky made it easy to make an inexpensive dessert using ingredients that you had on hand.
The traditional way to mix this cake is very different than your normal cake. Instead of beating the ingredients together in a bowl, you make this all in the pan that you bake it in.
I am not sure what the purpose of this was, but I am guessing it was to make it a one pan recipe. This keeps you from washing extra dishes.
HOW DO I MAKE WACKY CAKE GLUTEN FREE?
It is easy to make gluten free by using a gluten free flour blend. That is basically all I did to change the traditional Wacky Cake to a Gluten Free Wacky Cake. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Blend, but I am sure other gluten free blends would work as well.
Gluten Free Wacky Cake
Gluten Free Wacky Cake is a classic cake made gluten free!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour blend or another gluten free flour blend
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup water
- powdered sugar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease an 8 inch square pan.
- In the 8x8 pan or a mixing bowl combine gluten free flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- In in flour mixture make one large crater and two small ones.
- Add oil to large crater. Add vinegar to one small crater and vanilla to the other one.
- Pour water over entire mixture.
- With a wooden spoon mix all together until mixture is well combined and no streaks remain.
- If mixing in a bowl spread batter into greased pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Let cake cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Notes
The traditional wacky cake has you making the cake batter in the pan that you cook it in. I find that I can mix it better in a bowl and then spread the batter into the pan. You can make it the traditional way or mix it in a bowl.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9 servingsServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 297Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 224mgCarbohydrates: 53gFiber: 1gSugar: 30gProtein: 3g
These cakes look interesting and super easy. I wonder if apple cider vinegar could be used rather than white vinegar, to avoid using an ingredient containing corn?
Thank you for your great recipes!
Yes, I’ve used either type of vinegar with no difference in product.
I have made this type of cake for years, even before I had to go gluten-free. It’s a winner!
This cake was created during the war when eggs and dairy were rationed. It’s been a go-to recipe in our family for years but I’ve never made a gluten free version before! My niece is gluten free and dairy/egg free so hoping this will work for her.
I hope that it works for you and that your niece enjoys it!
Red Mills gluten free flour has xanthum gum in it so no need to add it. If using flour that doesn’t havexanthim gum already added one will need to add it to the batter so the cake will rise
We made this cake in my science class, because the final cake weighs less than the batter. One of my students asked “Is that why it’s called Wacky?”
We’d LOVE to hear the reasoning for the name!
I think it is called Wacky, or Crazy cake because it is so different than other cakes. It doesn’t have eggs and is mixed in the pan you bake it in. That is very interesting though that it weighs less after baking.