While the depression of the 1930’s certainly presented everybody at the time with great challenges, some were actually met with quite a bit of genius and ingenuity. Some fancy food synthesis falls into this category. It’s a good thing too, because when World War II came along just a decade later, these clever foodies didn’t even miss a beat, continuing to tackle the challenge of cooking with restricted ingredients with great aplomb.

Some of their concoctions were pretty logical, while others really require a head scratch while speculating what on earth they were thinking. Some notable eyebrow-raising recipes of this era include Mock Apple Pie, a pie made almost entirely of Ritz crackers its proponents swear taste like the real thing, Campbell’s Tomato Soup Cake, a (sometimes) vegan spice cake with a very unusual ’secret’ ingredient, and of course, my absolute favorite, Wacky Cake, a sublime chocolate cake with a moist crumb to rival that of a commercial mix. Best of all, unlike most cake mixes, it’s completely parve!

Wacky cake gets its lift from the acidity of the cocoa and vinegar combining with the baking soda. This is a fast reaction, and some even insist that this cake be mixed and baked in the same pan. However, you’ll do just fine opting to mix in a bowl, if you do some fast mixing followed by a speedy transfer to the pan and directly into a hot oven.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 cup oil (I like to use coconut or grapeseed, but any light, mild-flavored oil will do)
1 cup cold water

Directions:
Prepare a 8 or 9 inch baking pan, and make sure your oven is preheated to 350 and ready to go. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients in either a mixing bowl or the baking pan. Combine liquid ingredients and then add to dry ingredients, quickly whisking together. If batter is mixed in a bowl, quickly transfer to baking pan. Place cake into oven immediately and bake approximately 30 - 35 minutes, or until cake springs back after pressed lightly. Cool completely before frosting.

Make a parve frosting with margarine, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt and soy milk, or simply whip together cocoa powder, marshmallow fluff, and additional powdered sugar to taste. For a more sophisticated look, top with a chocolate ganache by combining parve chocolate chips, margarine, and Mocha Mix or soy milk over medium low heat and cooling slightly before pouring over the cake. Enjoy your slice of history!

~ Recipe submitted by Allaya Diep

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of soft margarine (from a tub), melted
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose white flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (make sure that the oven is at the right temperature with an oven thermometer).
2. Spray a square pan (8×8) with cooking spray and lightly flour it.
3. Whisk together the melted margarine and sugar in a bowl.
4. Add egg substitute and vanilla extract and whisk.
5. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and mix it all together.
6. Add in the semi-sweet chocolate chips.
7. Spread the batter evenly in the pan.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool. Cut into squares.

~ Recipe submitted by Sarrit Kovacs

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt the margarine. Add in egg and vanilla extract. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients up until and including the salt. Next, add in the liquid mixture and mix well. Next, stir in Rice Krispies and chocolate chips. Scoop out about a tablespoon sized mound of cookie dough and place them on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Makes about 30 cookies. These cookies freeze well; you can freeze them in an airtight container with layers separated by wax paper.

~ Recipe submitted by Sarrit Kovacs

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of potato starch
1/2 cup of cocoa

Directions:
Mix the above ingredients together in a large mixing bowl then bake in a 9×13 pan on 350′ for about 45 minutes or until done.

~ Recipe submitted by Yehudis Baitz

They taste like regular choc chip cookies, they are Amazing!! (Please note the following recipe is gebrokts)

Ingredients:
1 cup cake meal
2 Tbsp potato starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except for chocolate chips by hand (kneading it). Then knead in
chocolate chips.
Roll the dough into small walnut sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. Then, flatten the
balls with the palm of your hand.
Bake on 375 for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 30 small cookies.

~ Recipe submitted by Sarrit Kovacs

I Needed to use up some pantry ingredients, and these cookies are great for that! Don’t let the cracks fool you…these are chewy, not too sweet and extra chocolaty.

This recipe is from the February 2009 issue of Cook’s Illustrated (my notes in parentheses).

Ingredients:

2.5 ounces granulated sugar (about 1/3 cup) plus 1/2 cup for coating
7.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1.5 cups)
3 ounces Dutch-process cocoa (about 3/4 cup, but I’d really recommend weighing the cocoa)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 large egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, softened
2.5 ounces packed dark brown sugar (about 1/3 cup)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (don’t skimp here…use really good chocolate)

Directions:

1) With a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cream butter, 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar together until fluffy. Whisk corn syrup, egg white and vanilla together in a small bowl and add to the butter mixture, beating until well combined. Combine dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to butter mixture until just combined. Fold in chopped chocolate with a spatula.

2) Refrigerate cookie dough for 30 minutes to firm slightly, but do not leave in longer than 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Remove from fridge and divide dough into 16 equal portions. Roll into balls about 1.5 inches in diameter. Roll cookie balls in sugar to coat and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (I made my cookies a little smaller, but you can follow it this way and bake 8 at a time) Bake 10 to 11 minutes, turning the cookie sheet mid-way through until cookies are puffy, cracked, and just beginning to set around the edges. The cookies will look a little bit raw between the cracks. Do not overcook!!

3) Remove from oven and allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Wait until they’re completely cool or else it’s like chocolate napalm. Enjoy!

~ Recipe submitted by Allaya Diep

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine softened plus 1 tablespoon margarine melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 cup semisweet miniature chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 9 x 13-inch (i used a size smaller) baking pan lightly. mix 21/4 cups flour with baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. beat 3/4 cup margarine, sugar and brown sugar with electric mixer until light. beat in eggs and vanilla, add dry ingredients and mix well. remove and reserve half the batter. blend cocoa with remaining 1 tablespoon meltd margarine in a small bowl, add to batter remaining in bowl and mix well. spread in prepared pan. fold 1/4 cup flour and half the chocolate chips into reserved batter. spread over first layer in the baking pan. sprinkle with remaining chocholate chips. bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges start to pull away from sides of pan. cool on a wire rack and cut into squares. makes 2 dozen.

~ Recipe from “kosher palette 2″ submitted by Leah Mizrahi

Ingredients:

4 tbsp margarine
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1 9″ deep pie shell
whipped cream for garnish

Directions:

Melt chocolate and margarine in a double boiler. Cool slightly. Combine eggs, salt, sugar, vanilla and nuts, blend well. Add chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

~ Recipe submitted by Chaya Burstein Dombey

1/2 Cup Rice Milk
1/4 Tsp Espresso powder
1-2 Tbsp Sugar, as preferred 
1 Cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
3 Large egg whites

1. Place chocolate chips in blender
2. Heat milk, espresso and sugar until hot, not boiling
3. Pour milk mixture over chocolate chips and blend briefly
4. Add egg whites to blender and blend on high 1 minute or a little more
5. Transfer mixture to desert cups and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.

Enjoy!

~ Recipe submitted by Etti Hazan Goldfarb