Before modern cooking, when eggs became readily available and relatively inexpensive, cakes were almost always made with other types of leavening. In fact, this method creates a much lighter cake that many people still find preferable to cakes made with egg. The leavening in this recipe comes from the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar.
Bake the Cake
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2
Lightly grease the cake pan with a little oil or margarine.
Step 3
Sift together the all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder.
Step 4
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the vanilla, vegetable oil, vinegar and water.
Step 5
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a fork or spoon until they are just combined.
Step 6
Pour the cake batter into the greased cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Step 7
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool before turning it out of the pan onto a serving plate and adding the frosting.
Make the Frosting
Step 1
Combine powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and margarine in a mixing bowl.
Step 2
Stir the ingredients a few times with a spoon, fork or with the beaters before you turn on the mixer to wet the dry ingredients so that they don't fly out when you turn on the hand mixer.
Step 3
Beat the frosting mixture with a mixer until it is well-combined, adding cold water a little at a time until you reach the frosting consistency that you desire.
Step 4
Frost the top and sides of the cooled chocolate cake.
Tips and Warnings
- For a two-layer cake, double this recipe.
Things You'll Need
- For the cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 3 tbsp. coca powder
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp. white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 8-inch round cake pan
- Mixing bowl
- Hand mixer
- Oil or margarine
- For the frosting:
- 1 1/3 cups powered sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 2 tbsp. margarine
- 2-4 tbsp. cold water
References
- "Lecture Outlines: Food Science"; Sylvia Fagal; 2001
- "Foundations of Food Preparation: Sixth Edition"; Jeanne Himich Freeland-Graves and Gladys C. Peckham; 1996
- "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World"; Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero; 2006
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