Wacky Cake

Cheap Eat Challenge: Join or watch as our family of 6 eats, or tries to, on $6/day.
Have a look at Jean's Food Journal for a daily accounting of what I eat, plus some thoughts on the bumps as we go along our way.

(Photo update: I wanted to get some prettier pictures than I had, although we eat this way too fast and I have trouble getting a good pic before we do. Here's to trying.)

And for old time's sake, here's the previous picture: 

I consider myself a moderate eater. I enjoy a variety of foods. I generally stop eating when I'm full. I try to listen to my body and eat how much and the types of foods it's telling me it needs and even wants. I can usually have one cookie, or just a few chips, or a piece of really good chocolate and feel satisfied. But there are a few foods that are, well, let's call them achilles heels. And, yes, I have more than one. And probably more than two. Maybe we should call them achilles toe joints. Anyway, chocolate cake is one of them. And wacky cake is one of the best chocolate cakes there is. My only salvation is that, in the chocolate department, my husband has a more voracious appetite than even I. And a faster metabolism to go with. So he usually gets to enough of it so that I don't end up gaining 700 pounds. Not yet anyway.

And what's so special, so wacky about this here wacky cake? I'm glad you asked. For starters, it's cheap. The lore goes that this was a depression cake (as in a cake of the Great Depression era, not a cake that could cause or cure depression, though used in the right doses, it can certainly do either of those things as well). It required no eggs, no milk, no butter. Sound like your pantry sometimes, well then, there you go.

Secondly, you make it all in the pan. Did you hear that? Do you understand the implications. There is no bowl. If you grew up in a house with no dishwasher, you will understand the sheer and beautiful meaning of that. No wonder we made it a lot when I was growing up.

Thirdly, since it contains no eggs, butter, or milk, it's allergen friendly and can be made vegan with the right kind of sugar.

Fourthly, fifthly, sixthly, and seventhly, it's really moist, really delicious, really chocolate-y, and really really hard to mess up (possible, but difficult), as opposed to other cakes that can be a bit particular (thus the boxed cake craze--bah).

So...make this cake. Just don't forget to feed a lot of it to your husband and kids. Otherwise you might be unable to stop in your sheer consumption of it. (Yes, I did just tell you to sacrifice the health and wellness of those you love most in the name of your own vain self interests. Trust me, they won't mind.)

Wacky Cake
Serves, well, it should serve at least 24
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Cost: $.88
(flour: .16, sugar: .32, oil: .12, cocoa: .18, other stuff about .10)

A note on layering: This makes one 9x13. It is too moist to make layers. I like it that way. Should you wish, however, to make a very lovely layer cake that is still intensely good and moist, add 1 C more flour and line your layer pans with wax or parchment paper. We've done this before and it turns out wonderfully.

A note on frosting: Traditionally, this is made with a flour-based wacky cake frosting. We love this frosting, but we often make it with Kip's chocolate frosting. Because we are sick-o's in the chocolate department. If you use the chocolate frosting, it will be intensely chocolate everything. That works for some people, but not for everyone. Both frosting recipes will be included below.

For a mint cake: Substitue the vanilla extract for 1/2 tsp of mint extract. It's really really good. Then you can make a chocolate frosting and put crushed Andes mints on top. Yes, we are apparently over-the-top people in this realm--that's what I was trying to tell you in the first paragraph; weren't you listening?

2 C flour
2 C sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C warm water
2/3 C oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla (or 1/2 tsp mint) extract

In a 9x13 inch pan, mix dry ingredients.

Add wet ingredients.

(Note: We like to make wells for the different wet ingredients--so a little hole for the water, a hole for the oil and a hole for the vinegar and vanilla. Then we make rivers and then mix it all together and the baking soda reacts with the vinegar and fizzes a bit and I don't know why we do this, but we both did when we made versions of this cake as children. It's fun for some reason. But I won't make you make it this way--you can just throw it all in if you want. But it's fun. It fizzes...)

A few smallish lumps in the batter are no big deal.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick (knife, fork, whatever) comes out clean. Note: It is possible that if you bake this in an aluminum pan, vinegar/baking soda will react and cause it to taste like metal, so use glass or a non-reactive metal.

Wacky Cake Frosting

Note on butter: I will give you the original recipe as it is most in keeping with the Great Depression Era Cake theme. However, I must tell you that we prefer this frosting made with all butter. It makes for a firmer frosting, but we don't mind one bit because the buttery-ness is tastier. To us. Some would disagree and find the frosting too firm when it hardens to room temperature.

A note about using flour in frosting: I know it sounds weird. You just must trust me. It totally works. Yes, it seems like you're making paper mache at first, but you are not. You are going to add sugar and butter and vanilla. I ask you, does paper mache have sugar and butter and vanilla. I think not. So trust me. It will be good. Very very good. Trust. Me.

4 Tbsp flour
1 C milk
1 C sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened considerably
1/2 C (1 stick) margarine
2 tsp vanilla

Mix milk and flour in a saucepan, and cook until thickened. Let it get thick. Don't fear it's weirdness. When it's thick, take it off the heat.

Make paper mache if you will and create a pinata using newspaper. If you do not, at this juncture, wish to make a pinata, then beat butter and margarine (or all butter) together. Slowly add sugar to butter mixture. Beat well. Add milk mixture (i.e. paper mache stuff). Beat very well until there are no (or almost no) lumps. It will take a few minutes. Add vanilla and beat. Taste it. See that your faith has been rewarded.

Kip's Chocolate Frosting
(There will be extra. Serve on graham crackers after you've consumed all the cake.)

One Confession: Kip's recipe is a little hard to pin down. He throws general stuff in and tastes it. Sunday, however, he made the best frosting that he has possibly ever made and I tried to make him remember how much of everything he used. This is what I got.

3/4 C (1 1/2 sticks) butter, somewhat melted (halfway melted, in Kip's words)
1/2 C cocoa
1/3-1/2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
dash salt
nearly 2 lb powdered sugar (probably 2 C shy of 2 lb--this is the sketchiest part of this recipe--start with less--you can always add more if it's way too runny or thin)

Mix butter, cocoa, and 1/3 C milk. Add other ingredients and beat well. If it's too stiff, add more milk.

(Didn't get a good picture of Kip's frosting; we must have licked the beaters off too quickly, so how about another one of that ooey, gooey cake. It makes me want to go lick the bottoms off the remaining 2 pieces--that's right, only 2, even though we just made this on Sunday. I will refrain. Or that is what I will tell you. And Kip.)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Creamy Bean Soup

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch, join us, or point a finger and laugh as our family of 6 eats, or tries to, on $6/day.

Remember how we got our beans ready the other day. And remember how I said I had this recipe with pureed beans that was not banned and that might help your family accept beans in a loving way. Well, forget it. If your family hates beans, your family will hate this soup. Kip had 2 bites. The kids didn't even try (except the 1-year-old, who liked it).

I thought that I had served this to Kip before and that it went down okay. But then I remembered, Kip had been at work. I served this to my brother and his wife when they visited in March. My brother is also a bean hater. But he was so polite. And ate all of his. It gave me a false sense of security and success. But now I know that Jake must have been choking it down. And so, Jake, I apologize.

You see, I can't tell. Because I really like this soup. (Although it needs the cheese, which I almost skipped. And I was still really missing the bacon that we skipped.) In my recipe book it has a big "Yum!" next to it. Which is good, since I'm going to be eating all the leftovers by myself in the coming weeks. Yum, indeed.

Creamy Bean Soup
Serves: 1 bean lover all week long (or about 6 people)
Prep time: 5 minutes (not counting any bean soaking, crock-potting, etc. you might do)
Cook time: 15 minutes
Cost (this is with humanely raised pork and with cheese and home made stock, which I count as free--canned stock would add another $1.50-2.00--yeah, it's expensive--the bullion cubes might be a cheaper way to go, but not sure): $2.40
(Bacon: .75, cheese: .50, beans: .75, onion: .25, carrot: .10, garlic: .05)

Note on vegetables: You can add more or less of all of these. I used only 1 carrot because that's all we had. But if you had a lot, it might fool the bean haters--the soup would be more orange and sweeter and perhaps just less bean-y. Come on, a girl can dream right. Plus, it'd have lots of beta carotene.)

Note on beans: This recipe calls for canned beans. I used dry beans that I crock-potted to get soft and slightly cooked. I think this is a fabulous method for beans and recommend it. At any rate, however you get your dry beans soft, you'll want to use about 1 2/3 C softened beans in place of each can of beans (that's 2/3 C dry beans per can of beans). In this recipe, that means 6 C softened beans, (which came from 2 C dry beans).

2-4 strips bacon (we skipped this)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
5 C chicken stock or broth
3 cans drained white beans or 6 C prepared (not dry) beans (I used great northern)
3/4 tsp fresh thyme (less if dried)
1/2 C Parmesan cheese

Cook bacon in a pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook until they're soft and transluscent. Take bacon out set it aside.  Add garlic to pot. Add carrots and celery. Cook for several minutes (about 3).

Add stock and beans. Cook for 10 minutes. While it cooks, chop the bacon you've set aside.

Let soup cool for 1-2 minutes. Put in blender and puree. Mine just barely fit in my standard-sized blender.

Return to pot and add cheese and chopped bacon.

Garnish with fresh chives. Or chocolate shavings if you think that will encourage your family members to eat it (though for the record I don't recommend this method--it'll mess up your leftovers).

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Dry Beans: 101

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch, join, or snicker at us as our family of 6 eats, or tries to, on $6/day.

You may have noticed a bit of a hole in the bean department on this site. Which doesn't make much sense since beans are cheap, nutritious, protein-packed, and stuff. So if you think it's odd that we don't do many beans here at tastycheapskate, let me introduce my family. It might explain a few things.

Jean:
Likes: Most foods.
Loves: Home-baked sweets, breads, vegetables, fruits, the A-vegetables: asparagus, artichoke, and avocado.
Will try: all foods except hot peppers and possibly squid/octopus.

Kip:
Loves: Chocolate, milk chocolate, mildly dark chocolate, chocolate chips, BBQ chicken, beef, chocolate cake, brownies, milk, cereal, sandwiches (but not for days in succession), chocolate milk, fudge, ranch dressing, ketchup, broccoli, peanut butter, pickles, cheese, chocolate, and did I mention chocolate.
Will try: Many foods I make even if he's not thrilled about it.
Hates: Beans, onions, chunky tomatoes, the A-vegetables, hot peppers, all peppers, and surely squid/octopus.

Mark:
Loves: Chocolate, creamy peanut butter, ketchup, fried potatoes, boxed mac and cheese, spaghetti made with smooth spaghetti sauce, honey, baked goods, juice, pizza with no toppings on whatsoever, even cheese.
Likes: Cucumbers, rice with vinegar (you heard me), BBQ sauce, some candies, bananas, apples, oranges, bread, tomato soup from a can.
Will try: Not much, but if it look sweet, it's got a shot.
Hates: Foods with chunky things in them, most vegetables, all meat, all cheese (except the powdered stuff in the boxed mac and cheese), beans.

Elizabeth:
Loves: Hard candy, chocolate, creamy peanut butter, juice, pepperoni, meat that is completely plain, most cheeses.
Likes: Bananas, applesauce, apples, oranges, green smoothies with a bit of sugar, bread, tomato soup from a can.
Will try: Just a bit more than her brother.
Hates: Foods with chunky things in them, most vegetables, potatoes, beans, sauces or seasonings.

Savannah:
Loves: Anything sweet, cheese, meat, juice, many fruits.
Likes: Most foods (bless her immortal soul)
Will Try: She'll honestly eat most things if there are no outside influences around telling her she shouldn't.
Hates: Whatever she sees her older brother or sister hating.

Emma Jane:
Loves: Breast milk, all the sweet crumbs she finds under her siblings chairs
Likes: Many foods depending on her mood and how tired she is.
Will Try: Most foods and many non-foods such as styrofoam and toilet paper rolls.
Hates: Anything but me when she's tired or grouchy or sick.

So there you have it. And perhaps you see our problem with beans.

The thing is, I really like beans. So we eat them occasionally. Tonight we'll be having a creamy bean soup that isn't super popular, but is on the not-banned list because the beans get pureed. If your family hates beans, this might be a bit of an in for you too.

Because of our bean problem, I have been slow to hop on the dry bean wagon, but finally I've given it a go. It's ridiculously easy. As, I'm finding, are many many cooking things that I put off because they seem hard.

Hard beans to soft beans: 101

There is a magic word here, well, 2 magic words: CROCK POT. Use this magic, my friends, use it well.

1. Sift through the beans to determine there are no stones. (This was one of those things that scared me. It's easy. It takes maybe 1 minute.)

2. Put them in the crock pot. This will soften and just start to cook your beans. If you just soak them as is the traditional method, you will them have to cook them still for many hours (unless you have a pressure cooker). With the crock pot method, you'll be able to throw them in a pot to make soup in the same way (and for the same amount of time) you'd be able to throw in a can of beans. I like that. I like that a lot. By the way, this method is taken from Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. Have a look at the link becasue she has lots of good things to say about beans and lots of good ways to prepare them.

3. Cover them with water so that the water is 2 inches (2 finger joints) above the dried beans.

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4. Cover crock pot and cook beans on high for 6 hours. (Six hours gave me a very tender Northern white bean--some of them cracking open a bit--perfect for my pureed bean soup. But if you wanted your beans firmer, you might want to check at 4 or 5 hours.)

5. Drain beans (this will remove a lot of the indigestible carbs that causes people to have gas--you can give them an additional rinse if you want to remove more of the indigestible carbs that might cause additional gas. I know I did.)

6. Use the beans like you would canned beans. A can of beans is usually about 14-15 oz. which translates to 1 2/3 C cooked beans (about 2/3 C dry beans). Go here for some handy conversions.

7. Freeze what you don't use in Ziploc bags.

One crock pot bean warning: Red Kidney Beans contain a toxin that needs to be cooked out at a higher temp. Soak them and then boil them for 10 minutes, and then cook them in the slow cooker. I know that's a pain; sorry.

PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS