蜜桃恋人

Poor Man's Cake

poor mans cake on a white plate. no eggs, butter or milk in this vegan cake recipe with raisins
Photo Credit
Sam Jones/Quinn Brein
The Editors
Yield
12 to 15 servings
Category
Cakes and Frostings
Course
Desserts
Credit
Ruth Gagen Brentwood Historical Society, Brentwood, New Hamp
Sources
Yankee Magazine Church Suppers and Potluck Dinners Cookbook

Why do we call this recipe Poor Man’s Cake? It’s a vintage cake recipe created during the Depression Era during the 1930s. The 鈥減oor man鈥 refers to the ingredients; no butter, milk, or eggs are needed! This doesn’t affect the taste because it’s the best cake ever!

Most of these ingredients should be found right in the pantry. Just add raisins鈥攚hich you boil for plumpness. If you wish, you could always add walnuts. This is a great vegan option for a moist, delicious cake!

It’s fine without frosting, but we like to pair the cake with a cream cheese frosting, such as the one we use on our Best Ever Carrot Cake. If you don’t have frosting, a sprinkling of powdered sugar works, too.

Enjoy this old-fashioned cake! We’re so glad that we rediscovered it in our recipe archives. It’s a keeper!

Ingredients
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 package (15 ounces) raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
cream cheese frosting (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
  2. In a pan, combine brown sugar, hot water, salt, shortening, raisins, and spices. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  3. In a bowl, combine flour and dissolved baking soda, add to the batter, and mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
  4. Cool in the pan. Frost, if desired.
About The Author

The Old Farmer鈥檚 蜜桃恋人 Editors

We love introducing fun new recipes as well as time-tested recipes, straight from the archives! Read More from The Old Farmer鈥檚 蜜桃恋人 Editors
 

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Comments

Bev (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

My neighbor used to talk about his favorite "Man's Cake". it looked a lot like this recipe but used mincemeat? Anyone ever hear of this and have the recipe?

Debi (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

My Gram often made this cake many years ago. Brings back so many sweet memories. I鈥檒l definitely try it and see if it鈥檚 the same

Gloria (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

My mother in law gave me this recipe in the 60s and it called for lard instead of shortening. It's delicious but I haven't made it in years.

Nancy White (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

This is exactly the same as my Grandma's Boiled Cake! The only difference is that her recipe only made an 8x8 size cake, so it is great to have this recipe that makes a 9x13! Thank you so much for posting it!

Elle Baker (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

This is very similar to Eggless Milkless Spice Cake in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. An easy to make cake and delicious, even without frosting.

Shay Simmons (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

It's also called Canadian War Cake, and under that name predates the depression by about 13 years.

Alice L Bennett (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

Can you use dates or plums instead of the raisins. Maybe figs also? I don't like raisins. Thank you.

Patricia (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

This was a family staple for al long as I can recall (I鈥檓 68) especially at Easter when we decorated it with jelly beans & Peeps. We called it Yum Yum Cake..We also added 1 small can of drained pineapple to it...I make it to this day...

Ruth Moore (not verified)

4 years 10 months ago

Finally made this, it is delicious, reminds me of the Spice Cake bar that was sold in A & P a LONG time ago. Had to bake it 43 minutes, batter was soupy in the middle after 30 minutes. Will make again.

Sharon R Williamson (not verified)

4 years 10 months ago

Looks really good but I do not like raisins could I use craisins instead