There are some blogs I follow because I know their tried and tested recipes will come to my rescue each time I’m facing a dilemma as to what to cook! Then there are some other blogs which I visit purely for reading pleasure – either because I cannot procure most of the ingredients they use or they write predominantly about meat based recipes. Home Sick Texan is one of them. It gives such a view of Texans whose culture, food and general way of life seems so different from the regular American life. I love to read the stories accompanying each recipe and these are more interesting for me that the recipe itself. But this one time, I found a recipe that made me say ‘ I must try this RIGHT now’. It was her granny’s Wacky Cake recipe. The name itself is so appealing, so cute and so retro, and it is indeed a blast from the past. And what’s more – no butter, no eggs, no mixing bowl required. Can baking ever get better than this?
If you ever want to bake with your kids, I can only imagine what a deterrent breaking eggs in front of them is – an invitation to gooey mess and not to mention the fear of salmonella from raw eggs, especially in India where the local panwalla who sells them loose (betel leaf vendor) is the nearest source for eggs in a hurry. This is also the best possible cake to bake in the morning for a breakfast for friends who’ve stayed over. Waking up to the aromas of fresh home baking will make it an unforgettable morning for them. Also, this is the perfect one if you’re calling your girl pals over for tea – considerably low cal, ready in a jiffy and just the perfect sweetness to go with tea / coffee.
I have just wiped my hands off after tasting the first piece and it was soft enough to melt in my mouth (even without butter!!!) and then I had to break my prolonged silence here by posting about it. We’re having this for our pre-Diwali breakfast and it makes me very very happy and indebted to Home Sick Texan for sharing this recipe – I finally found a vegan recipe for a lovely cake for DH, who’s gotten off eggs for a couple of years now and he strictly abides by his no egg policy even when faced with some delicious desserts in the best of places.
Home Sick Texan’s Wacky Cake and Wacky Apple Cake Recipes here
I’ve used a chopped banana in the apple cake recipe along with a part whole wheat flour replacement, and walnuts instead of pecans. Here’s my version.
Wacky Banana Cake
Serves 6 atleast
Time to table – 45 minutes
Adapted from here
Wacky Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used Ashirwad Atta)
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar - run for a short while in the mixer .
- 1 teaspoon baking soda .
- 1/2 teaspoon salt .
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon .
- 1 tablespoon vinegar .
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract .
- 5 tablespoons cooking oil sunflower or any unflavoured .
- 1 cup water cold (not iced).
- 1 banana large finely diced .
- 1/3 cup walnuts rd crushed .
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- Combine dry ingredients in flour sifter and sift into an ungreased 8x8 square or a 9-inch round baking pan. You can also use a 9-inch cast-iron skillet.
- Poke three holes into the flour mixture. In the first hole, pour the vinegar. In the second hole, pour the vanilla. In the third hole, pour the oil.
- Then pour one cup of water into the pan and mix very well.
- Stir in the diced banana and nuts - shake pan to level off and sprinkle some powdered cinnamon.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or till done.
- Cut in squares and serve warm.
Banana bread with whole wheat flour!just awesome..
oh boy! cant wait to do some baking – that recipe looks suspiciously simple and the picture of the cake looks so delicious! 🙂
Your version sounds delicious – can’t wait to try it!Happy Deepavali to you and your family,Kamini.
Banana cake looks so good. Nice recipe. YUM!Wish u a happy Diwali!!!
lovely lovely… what can I say 🙂 this is perfect 🙂
awesome!! will you promise to make this for when i stay over??
Banana Cake is a all time hot favourite in my house so this one will definitely make an appearance on my table. Happy Diwali to you Nandita
Good to see you back. hope u had a wonderful diwali.
looked lovely easy and just the thing to do. had seen the crazy cake recipe before at allrecipes, but this one was a healthy take on it. timing was right. no bananas!!! made with apple. turned out amazing!!! thanks.d
I love baking with my son – let’s see if we can try this! Anything that can be baked with simple atta is a must-try!
I love that the wacky banana cake has just the slightest bit of crusty top. It looks incredible and I can just imagine the way it would smell up my house in the morning!
Glad you liked this friends…tried the wacky apple cake just like the recipe from HST blog – for a friend to take for Diwali and being eggless it was perfect even for a pooja! She loved it…
hi Nanditha, hope u remmeber me..havent been to the blog sphere for a long time now..hope all is well with u…the cake is yummm..but one doubt, is it a must to have baking soda in cake recipes with bananas??or can i make it skipping the soda?
Cake without butter sounds good to be true!
Hi Nandita,I tried your cardamom banana bread and found it very tasty and moist…Thanks for sharing the recipe and your modifications to it!Raji
This sounds wonderful. Looks very moist. The only thing I can’t figure is why its wacky? Maybe because of the absence of usual cake ingredients?Nice to see you back. 🙂
Looks gr8! looks moist n soft! great baking.
Thank you Nandita…my mouth waters after reading this recipe and am longing to try it out!
I did! I did. It is heavenly!
Will definitely try this. Looks delicious…..and I loved that bit about friends staying over and waking upto baked scents ….hmmm how proud you would be getting those compliments…..
I just realised (a bit late) that you are from Mumbai too. Hope you are ok and safe.
Now that you have given a thumbs up I too will try this! It looks crumbly and moist.
i tried this cake and it tastes great.i loved it!best cake i ever had. thanks for the recipe
Hi nandita,Nice blog and posts.Good to see that you have not used eggs in your wacky banana recipe.Shud give this a try.
Banana bread is my all time favorite.. i generally bake mine in the microwave because it is faster.. Work from home
Dear Nandita,Am following your blog for a few days now, and I really like it. I tried your wacky banana cake for my daughter, adding almonds and substituting vinegar with curds, and it came out really well. Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe !!
I like this recipe.these Wacky banana cake are sure to taste great and are extremely nutritious as well. I am going to bake a batch for the holidays when my kids will be at home. I’ll be sure that what they are eating is healthy. thank you for shearing your post.
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Nice list of recipes here. Lingerie Bookmark
Hi,i tried this cake yesterday and came out fantadtic!i want to try this in microwave. Do you know if this is possible?
I made banana bread following this recipe and it turned out wonderful. Lovely recipe with simple ingredients.
I did this recipe, except I used lemon juice instead of vinegar and added poppy seeds. I also used a bit of cloves instead of cinnamon since I was out. Very good!
Thanks for the recipe, I made this for my family and was a hit. I used orange juice instead of water.
Hi.. Just tried out this cake in my microwave oven.. Came out super.. Except the sugar was slightly less (I made up by poking holes in the cake and pouring in hot sugar syrup) – also the walnuts turned slightly black – any ideas why? Would love some suggestions so I can improve next time.. Also, your blog has been a big lifesaver to me in my married life.. A big warm thanks!!
hi… just made this cake in convection mode . the cake came out really good. liked the idea of using whole wheat. i used 3 tbsp ghee since i dint want to use left over oil which i had.thanks for the recipe.
I made this yesterday and the cake turned out fluffy and light but with a bi carb after taste which is unpleasant to say the least.