Crazy Cake for the Win

The weather is colder than it has been for a long time (and in fact, we are currently colder than Antarctica), the kids are home from school and well, it is just crazy around here!  Looking for a fun indoor activity?  Do you remember making crazy cake when you were younger?  It was one of our favorite recipes from our Home Economics class.  To this day (and let's just say it has been more than a couple decades ago), I can still remember the task of learning how to measure baking flour accurately.  Fluff the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup, cut a few lines in the top flour and cut across the measuring cup with a flat utensil, like a knife, to level it out.  Is this how you measure your flour?

Crazy cake is a great recipe for beginners, therefore it is perfect for the kids.  Most ages will be able to help, or even older kids could be able to take on the task mostly on their own, with your guidance.  Bring the kids in the kitchen today!  They will learn a little bit, make memories and enjoy their homemade product when they are done!

The "crazy" part about Crazy Cake (maybe you know it as wacky cake), is that it is all mixed in the baking pan and there are no eggs!

I placed a kitchen towel under the pan so if there is any splashing going on, it makes for crazy, easy clean up too!

Measure out all the dry ingredients and place them into the baking pan.

Mix the dry ingredients together completely.

Make one large "hole" in the dry ingredients and two smaller ones.  Place the oil in the larger hole, vinegar in one of the smaller holes and vanilla in the other smaller hole.

Pour the water all over the mixture.  Stir until smooth.

That's it!  Time for the oven!  Crazy isn't it!

And the best part?  You can tell the kids that they can lick the stirring fork when they are done because there are no eggs!

When the cake is done and cooled, you decide if you want to add frosting.  I've included a recipe for the frosting we used below as well.  Enjoy!

Crazy Chocolate Cake
You will need:
1 1/2 cup baking flour (all purpose flour)
3 Tbl Cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
5 Tbl canola oil (or vegetable oil)
1 c water

How to make:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place first 5 ingredients in an ungreased 8x8 baking dish or 9 inch round cake pan.  Mix these dry ingredients well.
Make 3 depressions in the dry ingredients, one large and 2 smaller ones.  Pour oil into large depression, vinegar into one smaller and vanilla in the other.  Pour water over all ingredients.  Mix with a fork until smooth.
Bake for 35 minutes on middle rack in oven, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely.  You can top with your favorite frosting!  Enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Frosting
You will need:
3 Tbl butter
3/4 c sugar
6 oz chocolate chips
3 Tbl milk

How to make:
Bring butter, sugar and milk to boil.  Boil for just 30 seconds.  Remove from stove and add chocolate chips.  Stir briefly until thick and spread over brownies.