This week I am sharing another Crazy Cake recipe, Lemon Crazy Cake – no eggs, milk or butter needed! A Sweet Little Bluebird original recipe.
LEMON CRAZY CAKE (ORIGINAL RECIPE)
LEMON CRAZY CAKE, also known as Wacky Cake & Depression Cake – No Eggs, Milk, Butter, Bowls or Mixers! This awesome pantry cake is super moist and absolutely delicious. Go-to recipe for egg/dairy allergies. Great activity to do with kids. Recipe dates back to the Great Depression. It’s darn good cake!
Read great reviews from people who tried this recipe on Pinetrest!
I still cannot believe the amount of visits for these cakes since my first share of the Chocolate Crazy Cake last month (original post date, March 5, 2013). I absolutely love reading all the stories and comments shared on this Depression era recipe. Crazy Cake, also known as Wacky Cake, Vinegar & Oil Cake, Depression Cake and many more names, is loved by so many. I am thrilled that people who lost this recipe, found it again. And I am so happy people stumbled on this recipe for family and friends that suffer from egg and dairy allergies. Everyone should be able eat real cake.
Since first posting the Chocolate Crazy Cake, I’ve added several new flavors and a few mug cake versions too – you can check them all out by clicking the photo below:
Today I finally made a Lemon Crazy Cake. It only took a few attempts to get it perfect.
Pinnable Image
Lemon Crazy/Wacky Cake
Sweet Little Bluebird Original Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups flour + 3 Tablespoons (all-purpose)
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp. white vinegar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. pure lemon extract
- 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 Cup water
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8″ square baking pan, starting with the flour first. Mix well. Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients – two small, one larger. Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla and lemon extracts in the other, and the vegetable oil in third larger depression. Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.
Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool. Top with your favorite frosting ( I used vanilla for this lemon cake), or dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Frosting Recipes
Vegan Fluffy Buttercream frosting
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (contains dairy)
Tips
You can double this recipe, just use a 9×13 baking pan.
You can add more lemon zest for a stronger lemon taste, or use lemon frosting or a lemon glaze. You can also mix the batter in a bowl for neater, easier mixing. Be sure to follow the directions the same way – mixing the dry ingredients then making the depressions for the wet ingredients. Don’t forget to grease you pan. Although I have not used Gluten Free flour mixes for this recipe, many people have and said the cake turns out wonderful! “Yes it is yummy and very moist. It even works with gf flour mixes!”
Vegan Fluffy Buttercream frosting
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (contains dairy)
Tips
You can double this recipe, just use a 9×13 baking pan.
You can add more lemon zest for a stronger lemon taste, or use lemon frosting or a lemon glaze. You can also mix the batter in a bowl for neater, easier mixing. Be sure to follow the directions the same way – mixing the dry ingredients then making the depressions for the wet ingredients. Don’t forget to grease you pan. Although I have not used Gluten Free flour mixes for this recipe, many people have and said the cake turns out wonderful! “Yes it is yummy and very moist. It even works with gf flour mixes!”
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
On my blog you will find my favorite recipes along with tried and trues from cherished cookbooks and admired sites and magazines.
How do you store it…. Does it need refrigeration?
I love crazy cakes and was looking for a lemon one and found yours. Here’s a question: If you have to add acid to work with the baking soda, why not use lemon juice?
Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. I used this recipe and all your different versions of wacky cake for years now both with regular white flour and with gluten free flour 1to1 mixes and they both turn out amazing. The crumb on the gluten free flour cake is just as high and lovely. It turns out moist and tender every time. Such a perfect cake for every birthday and holiday. The spice cake version is also one of my families favorites
Why make wells when you end up mixing it all together anyway?
Because there’s one less dish to wash…..and it’s more fun mixing that way!
I would like to bake this in a bundt pan. Have you tried this? Any suggestions ? Thanks!
Hi Suzanne, You would need to double the recipe, mix the batter in a bowl and be sure prep the bundt pan well. Check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. People make the classic chocolate crazy cake/ Wacky cake in bundt pans. Here is one –> https://comfortablydomestic.com/2015/05/chocolate-crazy-cake/
Thank you! I’ve made the Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting Delicious!, for my vegan family members!! Now to try substituting gluten free flour!!
Here is a GF recipe, Suzanne –>https://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes/how-to-make/crazy-cake/
Ooooh, I love that idea, I think I’ll try a Bundt cake also!
WOW! I tried this for the first time and LOVED them. I always have made chocolate and vanilla, I decided to try something different. It worked out amazingly! Do you have any fruit frosting recommendations? Thank you. – A Disney girl
sounds wonderful – but what is lemon extract in UK
Try lemon essence in the UK/Australia/NZ
Is there an applesauce cake version of the Crazy Cake. I have been making the chocolate version for over 30 years, and didn’t realize there were so many other flavors. We love applesauce cake with homemade, chunky applesauce.
Thanks!
Thank-you for such a great recipe! Hosting a birthday dinner for a family with egg, dairy and chocolate sensitivities makes finding a birthday cake recipe challenging… and this totally delivers!
As another commenter wrote, I did not have lemon extract on hand… but I had a lot of lemons!
I doubled the recipe to make a 9 x 13 cake, (so please note that the measurements below reflect a doubled recipe). For me, the zest of 4 lemons equaled 2 TBSP zest; so I then juiced the four lemons and added water to create the 2 cups of liquid to pour at the end. The cake was beautifully moist and rose perfectly.
This was delicious! I didn’t have lemon extract, so I used about 2 and 1/2 tsp of lemon juice, along with the lemon zest (put the lemon juice in the well with the vanilla extract) and it came out deliciouosly moist. Thanks for another great Wacky Cake!
I made the Snickerdoodle crazy cake last week, and it was absolutely delicious. I don’t know what I did wrong with the lemon one, but it turned out gummy and bland. I followed everything exactly and did a lemon glaze on top, but sadly this one was not a success for me. I will definitely make the snickerdoodle one again, though!
Can you use butter instead of vegetable oil?
I substituted the 1 c. water with 1 c. orange juice, and it was delicious! Nice citrusy taste. I used an orange juice glaze on top (1 TB melted butter, 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1 TB orange juice) which gave it a nice finish.
I still used the lemon extract-vinegar-oil trifecta; just poured 1 c. OJ on top instead of the water.
I will definitely make this again.
Hello, I followed instructions but used Apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar then mine turned to be very bitter.
What can I do?
Using apple cider vinegar would not make the cake bitter, there is only a teaspoon, you do not taste it in the cake. Did you forget to add sugar?
Can you use lemon juice instead of ecyract?