Crazy Chocolate Cake
The Crazy Chocolate Cake is an easy vegan chocolate cake recipe made without eggs, milk, or butter.
Plus, it’s an easy chocolate cake recipe made in one bowl with a delicious, moist chocolate crumb and a sweet chocolate frosting.
What’s A Crazy Chocolate Cake?
Crazy Cakes, also known as wacky cakes, are easy cake recipes made with pantry ingredients – nothing fresh from the fridge.
Also known as depression cake recipes, this was first created during World War II when eggs and milk were scarce.
Nowadays, crazy cakes are popular on the vegan diet, and busy days to fix a quick cake craving with very simple ingredients and minimal dishwashing!
A crazy cake recipe is naturally:
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Vegan
How To Make A Crazy Chocolate Cake
There’s always a day when you crave a deliciously moist chocolate cake, but you don’t feel like spending hours washing the dishes or baking.
So this chocolate crazy cake is very handy for those days.
Ingredients
Below I listed the basic ingredients and substitutions available to make this crazy cake recipe with gluten-free, sugar-free, or oil-free foodies.
- Flour – the original crazy cake recipe uses white flour. I personally recommend unbleached white flour or spelt flour, simply because they are more nourishing. Also, the recipe works very well with all-purpose gluten-free flour too. Other healthier flour options are spelt flour or oat flour. However, if you are using oat flour, then the texture will be less moist, and you will have to use sugar to keep the texture right. Xylitol or erythritol won’t work with oat flour.
- Sugar – white sugar will work very well, but I recommend unrefined cane sugar or a sugar-free crystal sweetener like erythritol or xylitol to make the cake sugar-free.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – sweetened cocoa powder will work, but the cake will be overly sweet, so it’s not recommended.
- Baking soda – or double the amount if you want to use baking powder
- Oil – canola oil or light olive oil works the best. I love olive oil to decrease the saturated fat in the cake recipe. Other options are melted coconut oil or avocado oil. For an oil-free option, replace oil with the same amount of unsweetened apple sauce.
- Water
- Vinegar – apple cider vinegar is my healthy choice, but any vinegar or lemon juice would work too.
Baking Dish Options
It’s a no-bowl recipe since you can simply mix all the ingredients directly into the baking dish!
There are two baking dish options for this recipe, depending on what you want, serving the cake in the pan or unmolding it and serving it on a serving plate.
- Ceramic/glass baking pan – this is the best option if you want to serve the cake directly from the pan.
- Regular cake pan – in this case, I like to lay a piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. To prevent the piece of paper from moving, I grease it with oil on both sides. This way, it perfectly adheres to the pan, and the batter doesn’t leak under the paper when you beat the batter into the pan. This pan is great if you want to unmold the cake and serve it on a cake stand or plate.
Combine wet ingredients to dry ingredients
The key to making a delicious, crazy cake is to first whisk all the dry ingredients into the baking dish.
Then, make two great depressions, meaning holes, in the dry ingredients and add in one of them the oil and the vinegar in the other.
Finally, pour water into all other cake ingredients and stir to combine and form a smooth chocolate crazy cake batter.
Baking
Bake the crazy cake in the center rack of your oven for 30- 35 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool down on a cooling rack before frosting.
Chocolate frosting
Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate frosting for your cake.
In a mixing bowl, melt dark chocolate chips and coconut cream.
You can also bring the mixture into a saucepan and melt it over medium heat until glossy and thick, like a chocolate ganache.
To boost sweetness, you can stir in 1/4 cup of powdered sugar in your frosting.
Spread the chocolate frosting over the cake and refrigerate the cake to set your frosting.
Allergy Swaps
You can replace the regular flour with all-purpose gluten-free flour to make an easy vegan, gluten-free chocolate cake.
Also, applesauce is a great oil-free option in this recipe. The cake texture will be different, but the flavor will still be delicious.
Storage Instructions
Crazy cake recipes are egg-free and dairy-free and can very well be stored in a cake box in the pantry for up to 4 days.
You can also store your wacky cake in the fridge, which increases its fudgy chocolate texture.
More Chocolate Baking Recipes
If you love egg-free chocolate cakes, brownies, and bars, I have a few more easy chocolate recipes for you to try.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
If you like vegan cake recipes, you’ll love these:
Did you try this crazy cake recipe? Share a comment or review below! I love to hear back from you on my vegan recipes.
Your friend, Carine
Crazy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup All-Purpose Flour - see note for healthier/gluten-free options
- ¾ cup Sugar - see note for sugar-free/unrefined options
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar - or white vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ⅓ cup Canola Oil - or light olive oil
- 1 cup Water - at room temperature
Dairy-free chocolate ganache
- 3.5 oz Dark Chocolate Chips - or dark chocolate pieces (70-85% cocoa)
- ⅓ cup Coconut Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch x 9-inch square cake pan with oil. Glass or ceramic pans work the best.
- Directly in the cake pan (no bowl is needed for this recipe), add the flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
- Make 2 wells in the dry ingredients and add the vinegar in one of the wells and the oil in the other well.
- Pour the water, at room temperature, over the ingredients and whisk to form a batter with no lump. Careful, don't use boiling water, or the cake will be very chewy. Very cold water may create lumps, especially with gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake down to room temperature before frosting. If you used a glass/ceramic pan, cool the cake in the pan, no need to unmold it. Otherwise, unmold after 10 minutes and cool down on a rack.
- Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate ganache
Chocolate Ganache
- Combine the melted chocolate with coconut cream
- Heat the coconut milk or cream in a small pan (you can also use your microwave), then pour over the dark chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate in the ganache is smooth and shiny.
- Spread all over the cake before serving
The most amazing and easy cake and to top it all, vegan!!
My family couldn’t believe that there were no eggs involved!!
The ganache was also super easy to make and complemented the cake perfectly!
Muy rico, gracias por compartir mi familia y yo te lo agradecemos.sakudos de México
Would this recipe work for making a layered cake? Specifically an 8inch cake?
I guess yes, I didn’t try that but it should work well
Being in lockdown without eggs this recipe saved the day. Made it 3x and shared with neighbors. Delicious and used powdered sugar since no frosting ingredients in stock. Loved it with walnuts too. Thanks, stay well.
I used xylitol as a sugar sub and it was great. Didn’t have coconut milk to hand so made a quick chocolate sauce with cocoa powder, cream and sugar- the literal icing on the cake!! It is extremely easy and such a quick baking time; I will definitely make this again!!
It is so easy, cheap and tasty! I’m my opinion, 30 – 50g less of sugar would be better. I’m definitively making it again.
Can I make these into cupcakes?
I am not sure it will raise well into cupcakes, but I didn’t try yet
this recipe was absolutely amazing!! a great dessert for everyone! they were perfectly moist and fluffy!
Can you use whole wheat flower?
It will be very dense and dry so I won’t use this option.
Hi,
This recipe looks delicious! Is the cake suitable for freezing?
Thanks!
Definitely ! Freeze in individual slices, store in a airtight box or silicon bag. Defrost on the counter the day before eating. Enjoy the recipe, XOXO Carine
These were so easy and quick to make and they taste delicious! Great warmed up amd served with vegan ice cream too YUM!
Thank you ! I love the addition of ice cream n this cake sounds SO good!
Hi
You said this cake can be made with oat flour, but sugar would have to be used. Can you please advise what kind if sugar and how much please. Thank you.
Hi! Regular crystal sugar will work or coconut sugar, use the amount required by the recipe. I meant that you can’t use oat flour and erythritol or the cake will be fragile. Enjoy ! XOXO Carine
These were extremely easy to make and very tasty. I opted for the oil free version using applesauce and it came out devine. The chocolate ganache is to die for!!!! I will probably put chocolate chips in the cake next time for a little extra burst of chocolate but it was great!!
Thank you so much for the lovely review! I am very happy you love the oil free option too. XOXO Carine
Absolutely delicious and its dairy free. Thank you. ❤❤
Thank you !