If you told me a year and a half ago that I wouldn’t have just one, but two vegan cakes on the site, and that I liked them so that I honestly question from time to time why any cakes have any eggs in them, ever, I’d have thought you lost your mind. Let me explain: I know there are amazing and delicious vegan cakes in the world, but I believed I’d need flax eggs or the liquid from a can of chickpeas or some other magic to pull them off; I figured I’d leave it to the experts. Plus, I suspect my devotion to butter and buttermilk is well-established by now.







But that was before I learned about Wacky Cakes, a.k.a. Depression Cakes or Cockeyed Cakes, if you’re a Peg Bracken fan, which of course, everyone should be. They typically have about 7 completely basic, everyday ingredients and they’re usually chocolate-flavored, but never enough for me. So in my version, I used a higher proportion of cocoa powder and olive oil, whose fruitiness is exceptionally cozy with chocolate. The cake is so good, we recently found in the fridge a chunk of the one I made in late November (five weeks later) and my husband refused to let me throw it away, taking his life in his hands to eat it right then and there. If you’ve made it, maybe you understand.

Not a chocolate fan? Today is your day. This long overdue version (with only 6 ingredients, what a showoff) might be — don’t tell the chocolate fiends in your life — even better. I made it with coconut oil and coconut milk, which together provide a subtle coconut flavor and rich, plushness to the cake I thought heretofore impossible in any cake, vegan or other. Forget a month; this cake isn’t going to survive this long weekend.

Previously

One year ago: Sheet Pan Meatballs with Crispy Turmeric Chickpeas

Two years ago: Chocolate Dutch Baby

Three years ago: Blood Orange, Almond, and Ricotta Cake and Cabbage and Sausage Casserole

Four years ago: Key Lime Pie and Make Your Own Vanilla Extract

Five years ago: Pear and Hazelnut Muffins and Warm Lentil and Potato Salad

Six years ago: Lentil Soup with Sausage, Chard, and Garlic

Seven years ago: Buttermilk Roast Chicken

Eight years ago: Baked Potato Soup

Nine years ago: Black Bean Soup + Toasted Cumin Seed Crema and Cranberry Syrup and an Intensely Almond Cake

Ten years ago: Clementine Cake and Mushroom Bourguignon

Eleven years ago: Chicken Caesar Salad and Fried Chicken

Twelve years ago: Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

And for the other side of the world:

Six Months Ago: Bourbon Peach Smash

1.5 Years Ago: Hummus Heaped with Tomatoes and Cucumbers

2.5 Years Ago: Corn, Bacon, and Parmesan Pasta

3.5 Years Ago: Very Blueberry Scones

4.5 Years Ago: Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches and Easiest Fridge Dill Pickles