The little chef
The grandchild has come to visit to day,
The parents just dropped him and then went away!
Poppy says "to the kitchen and see what we'll make,"
The little one says "Poppy, let’s make chockie cake!"
We mix the ingredients, one, two and three,
My helper says "leave the beaters for me."
We make a big mess for over an hour,
And poppy is left to clean up the flour!
The cake‘s finally cooked, and a new chef is hooked,
His specialty make, the great Whacky Cake!
The Whacky Cake - also known as the Depression Cake
The term whacky cake refers to a cake made without using butter and eggs. Whilst this type of cake may be fashionable with the vegan movement, it originated way back in MY grandma’s time. Back then, eggs and butter were often rationed and considered a luxury item so you wouldn’t want to “hide” them in your cooking! So out of necessity, it was determined that you could substitute the butter and eggs with vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and a mild tasting vegetable oil which resulted in a very moist, fudgy style cake. Why not give it a go!
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups self-raising flour,
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa,
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda,
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoons vinegar
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
Method:
Preheat oven to 180c and prepare 20cm round or square baking tin,
Place dry ingredients into large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk to combine,
Make three separate indentations in the dry mix for the vanilla, vinegar and oil,
Pour in the cold water and stir until the batter is mixed well and smooth,
Pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched lightly
If you wanted to wait that long, you could make a fudge icing - but warm whacky cake is hard to resist!
