Recipe: Wartime Chocolate Cake

A friend of mine just recommended this Water Cake with lemon zest. It's called water cake because it doesn't need milk. Or butter or eggs. The picture looks good, so I'm thinking of trying it. She said it's not fluffy, more like a cornbread, but not as crumbly.

When I told her this reminds me of my Wartime Chocolate Cake recipe, she said she might try that. So I decided to post it here. It is fluffy, but also crumbly.

Wartime Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 - 3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a rectangular cake pan.

Mix dry ingredients well. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake 30 minutes, until tester comes out dry.

Chocolate Frosting

6 ounces = 1 cup chocolate chips
5 tablespoons heavy cream or milk (even skim milk; I have not tried water)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put chocolate chips and cream/milk in a pan and stir over low heat (or in a double boiler) until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and stir.