Chocolate Depression Cake | Crazy Chocolate Cake | Stove Top Eggless Chocolate Cake

Super chocolaty, rich and incredibly simple recipe for Chocolate Depression Cake/Crazy Chocolate Cake with no eggs, milk or butter! This Stove Top Chocolate Cake recipe requires no oven.

Ever since the beginning of lockdown, I know many of us have taken solace in cooking and baking in general. One of the requests I kept receiving over and over on my Instagram account is for a stove top cake recipe or how to bake without oven. This Chocolate Depression Cake, also known as Crazy Chocolate Cake is what I made on stove top, without an oven. Ever since I had my own kitchen in Bangalore, the first thing I chose to buy for myself was an OTG. I was fascinated by baking and we invested a very small (Morphy Richards 18L in capacity) oven. It served us reasonably well over the years and I was yearning for a bigger, better oven. We bought a largish Morphy Richards 52L OTG 4 years back and it is my most trusted kitchen equipment. We have baked many a cake, bread, rolls, pizzas and a lot low calorie snacks too.

I have always wanted to make this super Chocolaty Chocolate Depression Cake (also known as Wacky Cake, War Cake, Depression Cake) ever since I first saw it on Freda’s blog few years ago. This is truly a crazy chocolate cake as there are no eggs, milk or butter in the recipe. The history of the cake is also interesting that it was made during the World War II when there was the great famine, probably why it is called depression cake and there weren’t a lot of baking supplies. In other theory, there is a depression made in the flour mixture where the wet ingredients go and that is also considered a reason for such name. For someone making eggless cakes for the last few years, I don’t find it difficult to bake without eggs or even milk. Most of my eggless cake recipes call for plain yogurt/milk curds but this recipe uses plain water. There are literally a handful of ingredients and the result is a most delicious, moist chocolate cake. And I made it on stove top in a pan, without an oven.

It so happened that when I decided to bake this Chocolate Depression Cake or Crazy Chocolate Cake, power went out (as if on cue). I immediately thought of trying to bake the cake on stove top instead of postponing the recipe. In the trusted company of Youtube and google, I found an approach that worked for me – dry stove top baking, where we will use a pan and a small stand to bake the cake. All you need for Stove Top Chocolate Cake is (1) Large Pan (preferably hard anodized, thick bottomed) (2) A small steel stand or a bowl to elevate the cake (3) Baking Pan (4) Aluminum Foil (5) Strong Sturdy Lid for the Pan. Just like how you preheat your oven, you should preheat this vessel/pan 10 mins before placing your cake tin for baking. Always use lowest flame and it takes 10-15 mins longer to bake a cake on stove top compared to the oven.

This Crazy Chocolate Cake is chocolatey as it is but I chose to glaze with a simple homemade chocolate glazing which made it oh-so-decadent. It is moist, delicious and it makes for a perfect tea-time snack or after meal dessert. I recipe for this chocolate depression cake is pretty standard, but I modified it slightly to make a smaller 6” cake and reduced the amount of sugar to suit our taste buds. Feel free to increase the amount of sugar to make it sweeter if you don’t want to do the glaze. If you want to make this in a regular 9” inch baking tin, multiply the ingredients by 0.67. Check out this recipe for a rich, decadent Eggless Chocolate Cake too!

How to make Chocolate Depression Cake | Crazy Chocolate Cake | Stove Top Chocolate Cake

📖 Recipe

Chocolate Depression Cake | Crazy Chocolate Cake | Stove Top Chocolate Cake

Ramya

Super chocolaty, rich and incredibly simple recipe for Chocolate Depression Cake/Crazy Chocolate Cake with no eggs, milk or butter! This Stove Top Chocolate Cake recipe requires no oven.

4.5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Cuisine Baked Goodies

Servings 1 6" Cake

Calories 370 kcal

Equipment

• Large Pan/Pressure Cooker
• Small Stainless Steel Stand
• Aluminum Foil
• Sturdy Lid for Pan
• Baking Tin
• Parchment Paper

MEASUREMENT

1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml

Ingredients

  

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For Chocolate Depression Cake –

• ▢ 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Cocoa Powder Unsweetened, Dutch Processed
• ▢ ½ cup Sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup Oil
• ▢ ⅔ teaspoon Baking Soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ ⅔ teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar White/Natural Vinegar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• ▢ ⅔ cup Water Room Temperature

For Chocolate Glazing –

• ▢ 2 tablespoon Icing Sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder Unsweetened, Dutch Processed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Cold Milk

COOK MODEPrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• Prepare the stove top baking setup by setting a large pan preferably thick bottomed and hard anodized (pressure cooker works too) on lowest heat on your stove. Place a small steel stand (or a bowl) at the center to elevate cake tin. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and close it tightly with the lid. Let it heat for 10-15 mins while the cake batter is prepared.
• Line your baking tin with parchment paper and grease it with few drops of oil.
• To prepare the cake batter – add all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.
• Mix it well. Now add sugar to it. If your sugar is granulated, powder it coarsely in a blender. Mix again.
• Now make a depression at the center of the bowl. Add all wet ingredients – oil, apple cider vinegar, water and vanilla essence.
• Mix all the ingredients without any lumps. Don’t overbeat the batter, gently fold the ingredients in.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
• Carefully place the cake tin in your preheated pan. Cover it with aluminum foil and tightly close it with the lid.
• Bake the cake for 35-40 mins until a tester inserted comes out clean. Remove it from heat.
• Let it cool down for 5 mins before inverting it onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper.
• While the cake is cooling, prepare the chocolate glazing by mixing icing sugar, cocoa powder and cold milk.
• Mix it well until it is a thick, shiny glazing. Adjust by adding ½ or 1 teaspoon more milk to make it a dripping consistency.
• I cut the cake top (totally optional) to even it out.
• Pour the glazing on top and decorate with silver sugar balls or cherries.
• Cut and serve it as a dessert or tea-time snack. Store this in an airtight container in fridge for upto a week. You can also tightly wrap the cooled down cake in cling film and wrap it in foil, place in freezer for upto a month or two. You can leave it at room temperature to thaw and then glaze.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Chocolate Depression Cake | Crazy Chocolate Cake | Stove Top Chocolate Cake

Amount per Serving

Calories

370

% Daily Value*

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword Baked Goodies, Desserts

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Detailed step-wise picture recipe of making Chocolate Depression Cake | Crazy Chocolate Cake | Stove Top Chocolate Cake

Prepare the stove top baking setup by setting a large pan preferably thick bottomed and hard anodized (pressure cooker works too) on lowest heat on your stove. Place a small steel stand (or a bowl) at the center to elevate cake tin. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and close it tightly with the lid. Let it heat for 10-15 mins while the cake batter is prepared.

Line your baking tin with parchment paper and grease it with few drops of oil.

To prepare the cake batter – add all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.

Mix it well. Now add sugar to it. If your sugar is granulated, powder it coarsely in a blender. Mix again.

Now make a depression at the center of the bowl. Add all wet ingredients – oil, apple cider vinegar, water and vanilla essence.

Mix all the ingredients without any lumps. Don’t over beat the batter, gently fold the ingredients in.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.

Carefully place the cake tin in your preheated pan. Cover it with aluminum foil and tightly close it with the lid.

Bake the cake for 35-40 mins until a tester inserted comes out clean. Remove it from heat.

Let it cool down for 5 mins before inverting it onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the chocolate glazing by mixing icing sugar, cocoa powder and cold milk.

Mix it well until it is a thick, shiny glazing. Adjust by adding ½ or 1 teaspoon more milk to make it a dripping consistency.

I cut the cake top (totally optional) to even it out.

Pour the glazing on top and decorate with silver sugar balls or cherries.

Cut and serve it as a dessert or tea-time snack. Store this in an airtight container in fridge for upto a week. You can also tightly wrap the cooled down cake in cling film and wrap it in foil, place in freezer for upto a month or two. You can leave it at room temperature to thaw and then glaze.

Recipe Notes

• Multiply the ingredients by 0.67 if you want to make a larger cake. With the same recipe, you can make 6 cupcakes too, fill the lined cupcake moulds to ⅔^rd with the batter.
• If you are making this cake in regular oven, bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 25-30 mins.
• You can increase the sugar quantity upto ⅔ cup for a sweeter cake.
• Optionally, you can sprinkle icing sugar and skip the chocolate glazing.

I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂