Do you remember the Wacky Cake I made last year? The one-bowl Depression-era chocolate cake which does not contain any eggs, butter or milk but still promises to be amazing?

I am revisiting the Wacky Cake today but not because I am bereft of ideas for the blog. I wanted to share with you a few simple changes I made to the original recipe which transformed it from a chocolate cake that was kinda meh to OMG Luciousness!

So what changes did I make? I simply used dark brown sugar instead of white sugar and added some dark chocolate to the batter. Such simple changes which made a big difference to the final result.

I made the cake in the picture for Easter Sunday lunch so of course I decorated it with chocolate eggs. It’s still really warm in Brisbane though and by the time I arrived at my parent’s house it looked like this!

The chocolate eggs may have melted but it still tasted amazing!

Super Wacky Cake

1 1/2 cups plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda*
1/2 tsp salt
100g (3.3oz) dark chocolate (either chips or finely chopped)
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease and line a 20cm (8inch) cake tin.

Place the first six ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and add the remaining ingredients. Gently fold the mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for approx 30 minutes.

*If you are using Dutch process cocoa powder then it is best to use baking powder instead of baking soda. David Lebovitz explains why here

Deliciously Easy Frosting

90g (3oz) dark chocolate
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp golden syrup (or honey or maple syrup)

Heat the chocolate until it only just melts (I used the microwave). Add the oil and syrup and stir until smooth. If the chocolate frosting is too hot and runny let it sit a while to cool. Spread over the top of the cake.