Archive · 7 Aug 2026
Depression Cake: Eggless, butter-free dessert born from hard times
A long time ago, in the 1930s, many people in America lost their jobs and did not have much money.
Things like butter, milk, and eggs were very expensive and hard to find.
So clever home cooks invented a cake that did not need any of those things.
They used oil, vinegar, and cold water instead.
The vinegar and baking soda make tiny bubbles that help the cake rise, almost like a science trick.
This cake was called Depression Cake, and even earlier texts called it War Cake.
Some people call it Wacky Cake because you can mix everything right in the baking pan.
Famous cookbook writers shared the recipe in the 1960s and 1970s.
Even today, people enjoy making this simple, tasty cake.
Depression Cake originated in the United States during the Great Depression of 1929, when milk, eggs, and butter were difficult to find.
The recipe uses oil, vinegar, and cold water instead of butter, eggs, and dairy, and was vegan long before veganism became popular.
Vinegar and baking soda react to produce carbon dioxide bubbles that make the eggless cake rise, resulting in a spongy, moist texture.
The cake was also called 'War Cake' in texts dating back to World War I and 'Wacky Cake' because ingredients can be mixed directly in the baking pan.
The article includes a recipe with flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt, vinegar, vanilla, vegetable oil, and cold water, baked at 350 F for 30 minutes.
The cake is also known as 'Cockeyed Cake' in Peg Bracken's The I Hate to Cook Book and was remembered by Jean Anderson in The American Century Cookbook.
- Who
- Home cooks in the United States during the Great Depression, and columnist Rajyasree Sen, who shares the recipe
- What
- An eggless, butter-free 'Depression Cake' made with oil, vinegar, and cold water instead of scarce ingredients
- When
- Great Depression of 1929, with roots in War Cake recipes from World War I
- Where
- United States
- Why
- Milk, butter, and eggs became too expensive or hard to find after the stock market crash, so cooks used minimal pantry ingredients
- Cake name
- Depression Cake (also War Cake, Wacky Cake, Cockeyed Cake)
- Origin
- United States, Great Depression of 1929
- Key substitutes
- Vegetable oil replaces butter; vinegar and baking soda replace eggs
- Baking temperature
- 350 F / 170 C
- Baking time
- 30 minutes in an 8-inch cake pan
- Number of ingredients
- Nine: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt, vinegar, vanilla, oil, cold water