Although we are fortunate not to have any known food allergies or sensitivities in our home, we do have many friends who can’t eat certain foods. Because of this, I’m often on the lookout for allergy-friendly recipes that still taste good.
It’s usually fairly easy for me to prepare a meal that satisfies everyone’s food requirements… but I’ll be honest, when it comes to desserts, I often just make 2 or 3 different options so the people with allergies can have their thing, while the rest of us enjoy something a little tastier (what can I say, I love my desserts!)
We have a few friends with kids who are allergic to eggs — which, in my opinion, makes baking any dessert that tastes REALLY good almost impossible. However, I’ve had this recipe for egg-free, dairy-free chocolate cake in my file for some time now and have made it on occasion when our egg-allergy friends are coming over (or if I run out of eggs!)
It honestly tastes REALLY good (especially with some chocolate frosting!) and is usually the only dessert I make to satisfy everyone at the table. The egg-allergy friends can eat it without worry, and the non-allergy friends are always surprised by how yummy it tastes.
So, since it’s an extremely simple recipe, and since I know some of you might be looking for more allergy-friendly recipes to add to your file, I figured it was time to share it here on the blog.
Plus, as Dave said, one more “excuse” for me to make chocolate cake 🙂
Recipe for Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake
makes a 8″x 8″ pan or an 8″ round pan
INGREDIENTS:
- 1.5 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 c. water
- 1/3 c. vegetable oil
- 1 t. white vinegar
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- Frosting and toppings (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 8″x 8″ baking pan (or an 8″ round pan) and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients together
- Add in all wet ingredient (no need to mix them together in a separate bowl first)
- Mix until well combined
- Pour batter into prepared pan
- Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the middle is set
- Let cool before frosting and/or decorating
You could easily double or triple this recipe for multiple round pans to create a layer cake. Or you could pour the batter in muffin tins for cupcakes (adjust baking time to about 15-17 minutes for cupcakes).
You could also add in chocolate chips, nuts, or any other “mix in” provided it fit with your allergy requirements — but I usually save the add-ins for the top.
And yes, I realize that with the additional chocolate chips, it’s NOT dairy-free, but those are optional!
This cake is so yummy, I promise you’ll never guess it was egg and dairy-free!
What are your favorite allergy-friendly dessert recipes?
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Ellen says
Thank you for this recipe! Do you have any similar without chocolate? (I can’t believe I wrote that, there’s nothing better than chocolate.)
Six months a go our baby cousin was born. And quickly his parents realized he was allergic to dairy, and chocolate makes him mad (I don’t know how). This is not much of a problem for the baby, but it means his mother had to stop eating both chocolate and dairy…
Since she’s nursing, everything she eats goes to the baby. :S
Andrea says
sorry… I’m honestly not sure. maybe just try googling it or something. Or just try my recipe without adding the cocoa powder and then use vanilla frosting.
Rochelle says
I’ve made this cake before too. I have a nephew who is allergic to dairy. I usually frost it with a “butter” cream frosting. You can buy dairy free margarine sticks at Meijer to make the frosting. Also Costco’s Kirkland brand of chocolate chips are dairy free, cheap, and they taste great!
Brenda says
Like others mentioned, this sounds like what my mom always called Wacky Cake or Crazy Cake. It’s a great cake! In case anyone only wants to get one container dirty, it works well to mix up in the actual baking pan with a fork. My mom would mix all the dry ingredients in the baking pan, make 3 wells, pour in the liquids in the wells, pour the water over everything, and mis with a fork. It’s a great recipe. 🙂
Gwen says
Too funny! I just made this cake today with my daughter for her birthday tomorrow! It’s a family favorite that my husband’s family has been enjoying for years. We call it Crazy Chocolate cake and we put coffee frosting on it. We make it for every birthday and celebration. My daughter asked it we could make it into cupcakes so she could take it to school and it worked out great! We’ll see how sixth graders like coffee frosting 🙂
Andrea says
yum… Dave’s family would LOVE the coffee frosting!
Cathy says
I’ve made this before for vegan friends. (If you want to make this vegan, just be sure your chips and frosting are dairy-free.) I’m usually pretty skeptical of anything labeled vegan but this is really good – just as good as regular cake!
Andrea says
Thanks for the tip — I would never have thought this was “vegan” but I guess you’re right!
Rabecka says
I’ve been making this recipe since I was a kid! We have always called it Wicky Wacky Cake.
Shelley says
One of my favorites for my egg allergy kid is this one:
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 small boxes chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
2 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and quickly spread in a greased jelly roll pan (the pudding thickens the batter and makes it hard to spread, so you have to work fast). Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until top springs back when you touch it. Cool, cut, and serve.
Andrea says
That sounds A LOT like my triple chocolate bunt cake recipe… and yes it IS really good!
Brooke says
For those who like to bake from a box mix, Dunkin Hines makes a ton of mixes and frosting that are dairy free. Just look for the boxes that have a U with a circle around it. If there is a D next to the OU symbol it may contain milk, if it doesn’t you are good to go. Can’t help on the eggs though since I’ve never had to watch for that.
Andrea says
Good to know — Thanks Brooke!
You know I’m always a fan of starting with a boxed mix 🙂
Audra says
I think someone already mentioned it, but Meijer sells gluten, egg, dairy, soy, and nut free chocolate chips. The brand is Enjoy Life. They are a lifesaver in our house…..little brother loves them in “everything free” muffins and on top of coconut milk ice cream. Then he can be like big brother. 🙂 You’ll also have to be careful with the frosting used as most store bought versions contain dairy. Now if only the recipe was gluten and oat free…..substituting the flour portion of recipes is never easy. This looks delicious though!
Sherry says
There are dairy-free chocolate chips. I also love your Chocolate Zucchini Brownie Bars. By using a dairy-free margarine and almond milk in the frosting it is also both egg and dairy-free. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Andrea says
Thanks Sherry — those chocolate zucchini bars are soooooo yummy!
Erin says
I love depression cake! Always a good go-to when you are missing those vital baking ingredients 🙂
Kim says
Are there any substitutions for the cup of sugar that you’ve tried?
Andrea says
I’m honestly not sure — but I don’t think you can make cake without sugar 🙂
Kim says
Well, my kiddos and I made this yesterday and used 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce…amazing!!! Baked a bit longer but it was super…and shaved off a 1/2 c of sugar!;)