The only chocolate cake recipe you'll ever need! (dairy free, egg free & totally divine)

Growing up in the 90s and early 00s, there weren’t nearly as many “free from” options as there are today, so you can imagine what a treat this cake was for me, for someone with many food allergies.

This cake is a very special one and definitely a core memory of my childhood. Growing up in the 90s and early 00s, there weren’t nearly as many “free from” options as there are today, so you can imagine what a treat this cake was for me, for someone with multiple food allergies. It would feature at almost every single birthday party, celebration, “cake Friday” at school, and if it didn’t, I would most definitely hear about it!

I was very lucky to have been given this recipe from a childhood friend of mine whose grandmother passed it on from a recipe book in California. And I actually think it probably derived a recipe from The Great Depression, also known as “Wacky Cake”, or later “War Cake”; these were both times when ingredients such as dairy and eggs were harder to obtain and rationed so home bakers had to become creative with recipes. Since then, I’ve tweaked it here and there and always loved making these for my customer’s birthdays when I ran my micro bakery. Besides being a fantastic option for those with allergies, the other beauty of this cake is that you should have most of the ingredients in your cupboard.