LEMON CRAZY CAKE – THE ORIGINAL RECIPE (a.k.a. Lemon Wacky Cake and Lemon Depression Cake), is a vintage Depression Era cake that has no eggs, no milk, no butter and no bowls! One of the EASIEST, budget friendly lemon cakes you can make! You won’t believe how moist and delicious this cake is, perfect for any occasion!
Lemon Crazy Cake – A Depression Era Recipe
You will be shocked how moist and delicious this cake is with no eggs, no milk and no butter, made right in the pan or in one bowl! I adapted this wonderful Lemon Crazy Cake back in April 2013, from the Original Chocolate Crazy Cake. The original vintage chocolate cake was created during the Great Depression, when eggs, milk and butter were hard to come by. It took some creativity and baking science to create a cake without eggs or butter – you don’t even need a bowl or mixer. Genius! Because this cake is egg and dairy free, it’s a great recipe to have on hand for people with egg and dairy allergies. But you don’t have to have allergies or be vegan to fall in love with this inexpensive and easy to make cake – it’s fantastic!
The Original Post Date for this recipe was on April 9, 2013. Post was updated, March 29, 2023.
Ingredients Needed (see recipe card below for full recipe)
This awesome budget friendly cake is made with pantry staples and one lemon!
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- baking soda
- salt
- lemon zest
- pure vanilla extract
- pure lemon extract
- white vinegar
- canola oil
- water
- plus your favorite frosting or dusting of powdered sugar
How to Make Delicious Lemon Wacky Cake from Scratch
You are going to love how easy it is to make this Lemon Crazy Cake! You can mix the batter right in the baking pan or use one bowl.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. then spray an 8″ square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Start out combining the first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8″ square baking pan – mix well. Next, you need to make 3 depressions in the dry ingredients – two small, one larger. Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla and lemon extracts in the other, and the vegetable oil in the third larger depression. Next, pour water over top. Mix well until smooth.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes. To be sure the cake is ready, check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Last, top the cake with your favorite frosting (I used vanilla for this lemon cake), or dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
NOTE – For a neater cake pan, you can mix the batter in a bowl, then pour it into a prepared baking pan.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR LEMON CRAZY CAKE:
Because this cake don’t require eggs, milk or butter, mixers or bowls – which is kinda crazy for cake making!
The cake get its moistness from the oil, and becomes fluffy from the chemical reaction between the vinegar and baking soda.
Vinegar is must in crazy cake recipe because it’s an important part of the leavening process. The vinegar reacts with the baking soda, which is what makes the cake rise. You don’t taste a hint of the vinegar in the finished cake.
Yes! Simply use a 9×13 baking pan.
Because there are no eggs, you want the baking soda and vinegar to combine and react/interact last, right before baking, this is what makes the cake rise. Some people think you don’t need to do this, I always have whenever I make a Crazy Cake. It’s a quick step, and all the crazy cakes I have created over the years have ALWAYS turned out perfect.
TIPS FOR MAKING CRAZY CAKE
- Because mixing in a pan can be a little tricky and a bit messy, if you want a neater cake pan you can mix the batter in a large bowl, then pour it into a prepared baking pan.
- Crazy Cakes can be made with Gluten Free mixes! Many people have commented they’ve made the cakes with Gluten Free mixes, and they have turned out wonderful.
- This recipe can also be made into cupcakes!
- Check out the full list of Crazy Cake flavors HERE!
- For a great dairy-free buttercream frosting, The Minimalist Baker has a great vegan recipe you will want to add to your recipe box!
- For a fantastic quick and easy Buttercream Frosting, be sure to check out a great one from Sprinkles Cupcakes, a favorite go-to.
MORE DELICIOUS EASY PANTRY CAKE RECIPES
Lemon Crazy Cake (No Eggs, No Milk, No Butter!)
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 ½ cups plus 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon zest from 1 lemon
WET INGREDIENTS
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- 5 Tablespoons canola oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix the first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8″ square baking pan, 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 canola oil in the third larger depression. Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.
- Bake on the middle rack of the 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!
Notes
- This cake is wonderful with a simple dusting of powdered sugar, or top with your favorite frosting.
- The cake does not need to be kept refrigerated if it’s not frosted. Cover and it will last 3 days. If it is frosted, it will need to be kept refrigerated. Cover and refrigerate for up to 6 days.
- If you don’t want to mix this in the baking dish, you can combine all the ingredients in a bowl, then pour the batter in to a greased 8-inch square baking dish.
- You can sub canola oil with vegetable oil
- You can sub white vinegar with apple cider vinegar.
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- For a great dairy-free buttercream frosting, The Minimalist Baker has a great vegan recipe!
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- For a fantastic quick and easy Buttercream Frosting, check out a great one from Sprinkles Cupcakes, a favorite go-to.
Anonymous
Just made the Lemon one: made with Cup4Cup gluten free flour; made cupcakes; upped the lemon zest. They look and taste AMAZING. Going to try the chocolate ones next.
Anonymous
I had a recipe for Crazy Cake years ago. It was chocolate. But this one you could change into a spice cake by taking out a couple or so ingredients and putting in others. I lost it years ago but would love to find out how and what to change to make it again. I think I lost it in about 1981 when I moved to another state.
Hope Rowan
I am making a 3D house-shaped cake for a house-warming party. Do you think this recipe would stand up to being a free-standing highly vertical cake? thanks!
Hope Rowan
I am making a 3D cake of a house for a house-warming party. Do you think this recipe would stand up to being a free-standing highly vertical cake? Thanks!
Darlene Bachovin
Thanks for all the different flavor crazy cakes. My Granny used to make me the Wacky Chocolate one back in the 60's when I was a little girl. Now I make them. I look forward to trying all of the different flavors of Crazy cakes and the mug cakes.
Sue Oja
I've been making crazy cake for years! I amped up the chocolate recipe by using cold coffee instead of the water. (It's a great way to use leftover coffee, just put extra in an airtight container & store in fridge until you bake.) Frost with a basic buttercream frosting, but make a little bit of STRONG instant cappuccino (cooled) to thin it instead of milk. If you can't do dairy you can use powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cold coffee for a glaze. I call it my Mocha Loco Cake! I have also added chocolate or white chocolate chips to the cake batter. Another yummy frosting is to put Andes mints on while still warm enough to melt them and make them spreadable. You can add maraschino cherries to the batter also, but make sure you thoroughly dry the excess juice off them. ENJOY!!
Anonymous
Hi, I've made the lemon version twice now with coconut and avocado oils and Pilsbury gluten free flour. Frosted it with raspberry spreadable fruit and sprinkled with coconut flakes. Very moist and sweet, dense. Next time I will add MORE of the lemon extract, as it wasn't quite lemony enough. Gluten free flour mixes are a little grainy, but worth it if you wanna avoid gluten and eat cake!!
Anonymous
I wonder if you did a "poke cake" if that may be a way to add more flavor…just a thought
amrit lattimore
My batter is quite runny is that how it's meant to be?
amrit lattimore
My batter is quite runny is that how it's meant to be?
Anonymous
I've been making this cake for 50 yrs, last week I added 4 very ripe bananas and walnuts with a cream cheese frosting….Amazing!!!!!
DDonaldson
Thank you for this recipe. I am always looking for egg free recipes for my son. This one is awesome! I did adapt it a bit so that I could add blueberries. It was so moist and really hit the spot without being too harmful to my waist line. 🙂
Diana
Lemon cake without eggs? Hooray! My daughter is allergic to eggs and since I'm nursing I don't eat them too. And I was soooo badly missing lemon cake, one of my favourites. Thanks for the recipe, I'heading to the store for lemons!
Lori
Made the lemon cake yesterday. Fast, easy and yummy. Hubby loved it! I used 1/4 cup lemon juice and 3/4 cup water. Cake baked up nice and high. Topped with a lemon glaze. Will try other flavours for sure. Thanks for recipe.
bidness44
Hello! I made the lemon cake yesterday, and it's already half gone. Delicious. I used a lemon from my backyard for the zest. The juice from the lemon made up some of cup of water…there was only about 2 teaspoons. I made a quick lemon glaze for the top. Perfect. Very happy to rediscover these cakes. They're so simple and easy to whip up quickly. PS remember in the 70's-80's the "Snackin' Cakes"? Now we know where they got the idea!
Anonymous
Made this cake today and it came out quite dense – I read that the baking time should've maybe been decreased, so I will try that next time I make this cake again. I liked how light the lemon flavour was and it went well with a lemon cream cheese frosting that I made. I made a dairy/egg-free chocolate cake all the time, and this is the first time I've tried a different flavour. I love the recipes on this site – I've made 3 of them already (including this cake), and my family has loved every one of them 🙂
Anonymous
Make sure your baking soda isn't too old.
Anonymous
I made.the lemon cake for church coffee hour and the chocolate Kahlua for my family. So moist and delicious and perfect for our Lenten coffee hours.
Anonymous
My cake was really quite tough do you have any reasons why this might have been
marysweetlittlebluebird
Sorry to hear that. The only thing I can think of is that you may have baked the cake too long – oven's can vary – or you did not use enough oil and/or water.
Paula B
Hi, have u tried this with coconut oil by chance?
marysweetlittlebluebird
Lots of people have let comments stating they used coconut oil and the cake turns out wonderful. I need to try that next!
Anonymous
I just made the chocolate cake and I couldn't believe how good it was. Orange is next for me! Yum.
Anonymous
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My son loves lemon cake, but has some allergies so this is perfect. Can't wait to make it for him. Thanks.
tbaz
My mother in law got the original (chocolate) Wacky Cake recipe from her kids' Home Ec class. It is a birthday staple in our family. People are always amazed at how good her cakes taste. I can't wait to try lemon!! I'm thinking the first maybe fell flat because lemon is an acid like the vinegar. It is the reaction of the vinegar and baking soda that makes it rise. Adding more acid might have thrown the balance off?
Anonymous
I switched the lemon for mandarin. So yum! It doesn't need icing (frosting) but I made a mandarin flavoured icing anyway.
Kait Watters
I made it with coconut oil! Such a nice taste and smell. 🙂
Priya
Love the idea. Just that mine had a strong vinegar flavor and smell. Can I use some other substitute?
I put the chocolate one in microwave once, came out quite spongy and soft, but too dry to eat without frosting (also not the most good looking). Have you tried making cupcakes in microwave?