Crazy Cake was born in the era of the Great Depression, a time when people had to turn a little into a lot. Crazy Cake was one such feat of ingenuity, a recipe that used no milk, butter, or eggs at all but still produced a sweet, moist and delicious cake. You will usually see it as a chocolate cake, but here we’ve turned it into a sugary-cinnamon snickerdoodle version. Like the traditional one, it uses no perishable ingredients but you still end up with one amazing cake.
Crazy Cake’s major selling point is that it uses only pantry ingredients to create a special treat, but I think the fact that you mix it all up in the baking dish is equally alluring. You don’t even need to dirty a mixing bowl!
You just place flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt into your baking dish, and give it a quick stir.
Then you make three impressions or “wells” in the dry ingredients and add your liquids – vinegar in one well, vanilla in another, vegetable oil in the third.
Give everything a stir, pop it in the oven, and while the cake is still warm sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon-sugar over the top.
It’s a simple cake – it couldn’t be easier to make – but it’s so lovely and moist and every bite is infused with the warming spice of cinnamon. It’s a way to bring a little sweetness into your life when resources or scarce – or when you just don’t feel like running out to the store!
Snickerdoodle Crazy Cake
45 minutes to prepare serves 6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- For the topping:
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In the baking dish, mix together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
- Make three depressions or wells in the dry ingredients, two small, and one large. Add the vinegar in one small well, vanilla in the other, and vegetable oil in the large one. Pour 1 cup water over the top and mix until smooth.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
- While the cake bakes, stir together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping. While cake is still hot, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Let cool, slice, and serve. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Sweet Little Bluebird.