This post goes to the facebook group Home Bakers Guild, as part of their Blogger Tuesdays.  

Last week, I was here with the glimpse of this cake. This week, it’s the cake itself.

Presenting a cake that has survived some really hard times, the ‘Wacky cake’ aka ‘depression cake’!

During the Great Depression, families ran on food rations and tight budgets. Things like milk, eggs and butter weren’t easily available. Dessert was a luxury. But instead of backing down because of the lack of ingredients, people started experimenting with what they already have. A whole lot of new recipes were born in this era and this vegan cake is one among those.

Another recipe that comes to mind is the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) biscuits. That was also born at a crisis ridden time (during WWI). Eggs weren’t available and since these biscuits needed to be shipped troops in Australia/New Zealand, long shelf life was also a concern. They came up with what they had and so a truly amazing recipe was born.

Closer to home, recipes for rava idlis were born during WWII when rice was scarce. MTR brand claims so :-).

Coming back to the cake here, its usually sprinkled with icing sugar and presented just like that. But I was in a mood to make something elaborate. So here is a vegan cake with a non-vegan (butter cream) frosting.

I am signing off this month’s Blogger Tuesdays with this recipe that has a long history. Something that tells you good things survive despite the hard times…

It’s been a pleasure coming here for the whole of this month. Thanks a ton for the opportunity and hope you have enjoyed the series as much as I have.

Thank you!

Recipe Source: Savoury Sweet life

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• a pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp flavorless oil like sunflower
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 cup water (I added 1 tsp instant coffee powder to the water)

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Grease and line an 8″X 8″ pan. (I used 9″ round pan since that’s what I had).
2. In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients. Whisk to combine.
3. Add the liquid ingredients. Whisk until its combined well.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out free of crumbs when inserted in the middle.
5. Once the cake is cool, sprinkle icing sugar on top and serve.
6. I have used a simple butter cream recipe. You can check out the recipe here. I have doubled the quantity to cover this cake and used M&M and melted chocolate are for decoration.