No-Egg Spice Cake

No-Egg SPice Cake

This week, my grocery store had flour aplenty, but not a single tin of baking powder. Of course, for the first time in a decade, I was out of baking powder. And when I can’t have something, I crave it. The second I saw the empty shelf, I hankered for cake. Did that stop me? Not in the least.

Once home, I pulled out my No-Egg Browned-Butter Cake recipe, which uses baking soda and vinegar for leavening. I set to work tweaking by poking about the cupboard. When I found pumpkin pie spice, I decided to wing it.

The results are a moist, light-textured, moderately spiced cake with endless possibilities. (Bonus, this version is a bit faster since there’s no need to brown the butter.) You could add raisins, orange zest, or lemon zest for a change of pace. Alternatively, you could also switch up the spices, using a blend for gingerbread or Dutch speculoos. This cake was my first attempt at a spice tweak, so hold on for future variations. Or come up with your own.  

The Adaptation Process

I kept the variation simple. While I used pumpkin pie spice, I made the intentional decision not to use pureed pumpkin. It would have made the cake too dense. Lightening it would require eggs at the very least. If I were going that route, I’d likely obtain the best results using traditional cake ingredients, like milk or buttermilk. And baking powder — the ingredient whose absence started the whole spice cake ball rolling.

So, here’s an easy, one-pan recipe that uses no eggs, no baking powder, and only the merest sprinkle of imagination. What would you do to spice things up?

No-Egg Spice Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Charmian Christie
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 30
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 9 pieces 1x
• Category: Baking
• Method: Easy

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Description

This simple, one-pan cake uses pumpkin pie spice. You’re welcome to create your own spicing to suit your palate or whatever your cupboard holds.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (220g) packed brown sugar*
1 tablespoon (15 mL) pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) melted butter**
1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar
1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract
1 cup (235 ml) room temperature water

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees.

Place the flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt into a clean, un-greased 8-inch (20 cm) square metal baking pan. Combine with a fork until all ingredients are evenly distributed and there are no lumps.

Quickly add the butter, vinegar, and vanilla to the flour mixture. The cake might fizz a bit as vinegar and baking soda react. Do NOT STIR yet.

Pour the water over the entire surface of the cake and mix well with the fork until there are no lumps, about 2 minutes. Be sure to get into the corners of the pan.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, you can ice the cake right in the pan, if you choose.

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Notes

* If you don’t have brown sugar, use granulated white sugar.

** You can make this cake vegan with two simple changes. 1. Use vegetable oil instead of  butter, but you will want to increase the salt to 3/4 teaspoon (3.5 ml). 2. Check to ensure your brown sugar is vegan (not all are).

Like your spice cake with raisins? Toss 1 cup of raisins in with the flour, coating well. The flour will help keep them suspended in the batter and not sink to the bottom of the cake.

Keywords: easy, pumpkin pie spice, vegan, egg-free