Amanda Miller
Columnist
Lettuce Eat Local
I walked over to the table, and quickly leaned down towards the bowl of batter to take a few more sniffs. I quizzically looked up at the kids; “…How much coffee did you put in here?” As they shrugged and gestured to the stack of measuring cups instead of measuring spoons, I knew we were in for a surprise.
It was the fourth and last week of an “easy desserts” baking class I was doing in the month of September for a local homeschool group, and we were celebrating/lamenting the finale by baking up some chocolate cake. This had been a particularly fun class of 11 eight- to fourteen-year-olds — the energy and enthusiasm always ran high, which is the way I like it. While the cooking interest and experience ranged greatly, I was impressed with how well the kids participated in learning and practicing baking techniques, and worked together for a common goal: and having the common goal involve a lot of sugar, particularly in the form of chocolate, rarely hurts.
The previous weeks, we’d been working in groups but walking through everything together step-by-step; passing ingredients down the row as we worked through the recipe together, measuring and mixing and smelling and sampling. I knew they were ready for a little more independence, so for this last class I just set the ingredients in the middle of the kitchen, talked them through some of the process, and then set them loose while I watched and helped as needed.
The recipe we were creating I call “crazy cake,” but I’ve also seen it as “wacky cake” or “one-bowl/pan cake.” Context clues reveal its secret that it can be mixed up in one bowl or even straight in the baking pan, which is a little wacky and crazy easy, especially compared to the more standard method of needing to cream butter, mix dry and liquid ingredients separately, and other good-practice caking habits. Sources, and other names like “war cake” and “Depression cake,” suggest this style of cake originated during the Great Depression and World War II, when butter, milk, and eggs were expensive, scarce, or even rationed — and this recipe completely bypasses those typical ingredients. Cocoa powder and vinegar interact with baking soda to give the cake enough loft and structure, and vegetable oil keeps it nice and moist.
It’s a great recipe to teach kids since it requires no special ingredients or equipment, just a whisk and an oven, but it also turns out so reliably every time with great texture and chocolatey flavor.
Well, almost every time. Little did I know what a self-fulfilling prophecy it would be to label it Crazy Cake. Stuff changes when ½ cup of instant coffee powder gets added to the batter instead of ½ teaspoon.
I had just finished assuring one of the little guys that there was no way he would taste the coffee in the finished cupcakes, that I just like adding a smidge to help deepen the chocolate flavor…and then I had to turn around and eat my words because he absolutely would taste the coffee in this batch.
But as far as eating my words goes, it could have been much worse. I often lament that “mocha” things so rarely taste enough of coffee, and this was one instance where that was decisively not the case.
In fact, the only bummer (besides emptying my instant coffee jar) was that apparently adding 48 times the amount of instant coffee effects the bake a bit, and they didn’t rise very well. But then again, that made the cupcakes almost brownie-esque, with, as you could guess, strong coffee overtones. So maybe this crazy cake was just crazy good.
And thank goodness, the powder was decaf.
Crazy Coffee Chocolate Cake
This recipe is not only comprised of easy pantry ingredients, but it’s versatile in how you want to bake it: use this amount to make one 8” cake or a dozen cupcakes or 2 dozen minis, but you can easily double or triple the recipe to fit your needs. That is, as long as you can find a big enough jar of instant coffee.
Prep tips: we made it both as cake and cupcakes, and decorated it with a chocolate buttercream frosting and copious amounts of sprinkles.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon instant coffee powder…or up to ½ cup
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ Tablespoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
⅓ cup melted coconut oil or vegetable oil
1 cup cold water or milk
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, coffee powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk vanilla, vinegar, oil, and milk. Whisk this strange mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Butter and cocoa-powder-dust an 8” or 9” pan; or put cupcake papers in one regular cupcake pan or mini cupcake pan. Pour the batter in.
- Bake at 350° for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of your cake/cupcakes, until the edges of the cake are pulling away from the pan, the center is just done, and everything smells chocolatey.
- Let the cake cool completely, then frost.
