Age group(s) for this recipe:
Preschool and Younger
Elementary School
Middle School
High School & Beyond

Estimated time:
20 minutes to an hour (cooling time)

Number of servings:
6-8

Ingredients: (Hit your return key to start a new line)
1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. sugar

3 Tbsp. cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 c. cold water

Directions:
You'll need a deep casserole or souffle dish, with sides high enough to keep the cake from running over as it rises and bakes. (I have a Corning French White casserole dish, but that's not an endorsement; I wish the thing had Handles on it! ;-)

In microwaving cake, the pan should be 1/3 to 1/2 full, to accomodate rising.
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Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in an ungreased
7 1/2 or 8 inch round microwave-safe cake pan. Mix well. Make 3 depressions in the flour mix. Pour oil in one, vanilla in another, and vinegar in the last; pour water over all. Mix with a fork to moisten dry ingredients, and work 'round the bottom of the pan thoroughly with a spatula to assure All the dry mixture has been mixed in. The batter will be fairly thin, compared to ordinary cake batter.

*Place on turntable in microwave and cook 7 1/2 to
8 1/2 minutes (600 watt oven).
Increase time by 30 second intervals, checking each time; remove when no wet spots remain on surface of cake.

Dust w/powdered sugar, or...
Allow to cool, frost with any sort of frosting, or top w/ whipped cream. Or serve warm, with vanilla ice cream...try a bit of the fancy flavored peanut butter spreads, or chocolate hazelnut spread!...or top w/chocolate pudding. It's the kind of cake that you just whup together when the urge for Chocolate hits hard, and you top it with whatever you have on hand that strikes yer fancy.

My fave is just ice cream, and lots of it...

;-)

Other suggestions and comments:
*My "vintage" microwave doesn't actually have a turntable, and the cake still turns out OK. When I am checking the cake, towards the end, I give it about a quarter turn each time.

I used cider vinegar last time, when we were out of white vinegar, and nobody noticed.

This is an update of a recipe widely circulated in the '60's. It's family-style, and Comfort Food. When my neighbor, a single mom, had her hours cut at work, I gave her kids a copy of this recipe, all the components of the recipe (in full-sized containers), a pair of new "one size fits all" women's slippers, and a box of flavored tea bags. Their instructions were to Pamper Mom, and they did. Younger children need more serious supervision, of course.

One "wacky" thing about the recipe is, it doesn't use Eggs, but it still works!