This Depression-era Wacky Cake uses no milk, butter, or eggs! It's super chocolatey and delicious! I topped mine with vanilla buttercream, but check out other options that don't use butter in the recipe notes!
Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt) in an *ungreased* 8"x8" glass or ceramic (not metal!) baking dish. Use a fork or whisk to combine well.
Once the dry ingredients are combined, make three wells in the mixture and set it aside.
In a liquid measuring cup, combine the vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Divide the mixture between the three wells in the dry ingredients.
Pour the hot water over the entire mixture, then combine well using a fork or whisk. Once combined, I used a silicone spatula to clean up the sides of the baking dish to prevent burning.
Bake the cake 26-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (or with just a few moist crumbs attached--you don't want to overbake!). Allow cake to cool completely on a wire rack.
For Buttercream (see note):
Cream room temperature butter and sifted powdered sugar until well mixed and smooth.
Add vanilla bean paste (see note) and cream (or water). If the buttercream is too thin, you can add more powdered sugar to thicken it. If it seems too stiff, more liquid can be added until the buttercream is the desired consistency.
Spread the buttercream over the cake, and add sprinkles or other decoration, if desired.Enjoy!
Notes
Note on vanilla bean paste: I always have it, so I *had* to put it in the buttercream. If you don't have it, you can substitute with an equal measure of vanilla extract. If you're interested in buying some vanilla bean paste for yourself (my fave!!), you can find it online [here].Note on buttercream: I topped my Wacky Cake with a simple vanilla American buttercream. This does require you to use one cup (two sticks) of butter. If this isn't something you have or want to use on a cake, you have a few options:
Have the cake as-is. It's moist, delicious, and super chocolatey. It would still be a treat with no frosting!
Drizzle the cake with melted chocolate. If you mix in a little heavy cream or butter, it will be more like a ganache.
Mix powdered sugar (sifted!) and water together to a pourable consistency and drizzle over the cake. You could also flavor the glaze with a little cocoa powder, use coffee instead of water, add a little vanilla extract...there are many ways to flavor the glaze to your liking!