This recipe was the first in my collection. I still remember the summer day when Grandma showed me how make this simple chocolate cake at Pinewoods cottage in Maine. I couldn't have been more than 8 or 10 years old. We grandchildren had to be on our best behavior for Grandma, and usually we just visited in the livingroom, sitting very straight and still like proper young ladies. But this day, she brought us in to the tiny kitchen and introduced us to Wowie Cake. It seemed like magic since it's mixed right in the 8"x8" cake pan!
Nothing could be simpler. The cake's in the oven in less than 5 minutes, and best of all there's no mixer or mixing bowl to wash!
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/3 c oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 c cold water
Confectioners sugar
Preheat oven to 350o.
Sift the dry ingredients into an ungreased 8"x8" square pan.
Make three wells (depressions) in the dry ingredients.
In one well put the vinegar, in another the oil, and in the third the vanilla, then immediately pour the cold water over all.
Stir with a fork until just blended and pop the pan into the oven without delay. (The leavening depends on the interaction between the vinegar and the baking soda.)
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until it springs back when touched lightly.
When cool, dust with confectioners sugar (put through a small strainer), cut in the pan, and serve with a spatula.
Grandma would have remarked that this cake contains no milk, eggs, or butter in this cake; good news in hard times. Today, we'd say it's vegan!
This recipe must have been very popular in my grandmother's day. It is known by a variety of different names, such as Wacky Cake and Crazy Cake, but everyone seems to have a family recipe for the chocolate cake mixed in the pan, with the liquids poured into the three wells.
Double the recipe for a 9"x13" pan.