‘Magic Water Cake’ recipe requires no butter, milk or eggs
By Joanna Sarah-Freedman
07 Jan 2021
2m
With the news full of empty loo-roll shelves and shoppers behaving badly, it’s understandable that many of us are keeping a close eye on our store cupboards. Obviously, the evidence suggests that the mad rush for tinned tomatoes is premature to say the least. Nonetheless, it still pays to be prudent.
Read More: Why do we eat pancakes on pancake day?
Fortunately for anyone who feels like indulging in some frugal creativity, the internet is full of cunning ways to make your ingredients go further. Already, cooks have come up with techniques for “baking” bread in a slow cooker, but there are also hacks to help you handle your sweet tooth. Case in point, one blogger’s guide to a “Magic Water Cake”.
Shared by popular Sicilian blogger Andrea Sora, AKA – The Petite Cook, the recipe is described as “accidentally vegan”, “pure magic” and “incredibly easy to make even if you’re a novice baker”. The cake itself calls for just six ingredients – flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, oil, water, sugar and optional cocoa powder if you want to make it chocolatey. Sounds like self-isolation snacking is about to become much more exciting.
Check out our Baileys Vegan Birthday Cake:
In order to make the cake, Sora suggests mixing the olive oil, water and vanilla in a small bowl, and sifting the flour together with the baking powder in a separate large bowl, before adding in the sugar and cocoa powder.
She then suggests that cooks, “slowly pour the oil and water mix into the dry ingredients, and gently mix with a whisker until combined and lump-free,” before “spray(ing) with baking oil a springform cake pan, pour(ing) in the cake batter and even(ing) the top using a spatula.” The total cook time is estimated at around 40 minutes, and full instructions can be found on Sora’s website.
As if the prospect of an easily affordable cake wasn’t already exciting enough, Sora also advises that “hundreds” of different bakes can be created from this basic blueprint. As a starter, she suggests adding nuts, chocolate and fruit to shake things up. Times might be tough, but if we’re going to get through the current crisis, cake of any sort is going to have a part to play.
