a cake passed down from my great-grandmother during a time when they had limited ingredients for their mixes. Get ready to enjoy the most amazing thing you have ever put your lips to.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 1 – 9×13 inch pan |
Ingredients
- 2 cups strong brewed coffee
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan combine the coffee, sugar, butter, raisins, allspice and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Stir in flour mixture until well combined. Pour into a 9×13 inch pan. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 161 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 30 g |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 149 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 4 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I substituted butter for 4oz applesauce and 1/4tsp vegetable oil. Also used 1/2c sugar, 1/4c Splenda, and 3/4c sugar in the raw (I wanted to use all Splenda, but I’m too cheap and my store was out of the generic kind). At the 1/2 way mark, I tented the edges with foil to prevent burning while the center finished. Cake comes out dense and chewy but great!
I made this exactly as written except that I didn’t have enough raisins, so I used half raisins and half dried cranberries. I also used shortening instead of butter (plus water, as the Crisco package instructs) because I wanted to use it up. Other depression cake recipes use shortening so I didn’t consider it cheating. The crumb is light, moist, and tender, with a slightly chewy crust. Nice texture, though the flavour was lacking…most of the flavour came from the dried fruit, though I could taste some of the spices too. I scaled to half the recipe and baked it in a silicone 9″ pan so sticking was not a problem.
WOW, first time go-i made this with the depression era corn and my guys actually loved a full night of depression 🙂 next time im going to use brown sugar, i served it fresh out of the oven with chocolate ice cream on top, very easy to make and im a bad cook
My revisions, 1/2 cup of molassas and substitute currants for the raisens. Also, doubled up on the sugar. I kept my eye closely on this, as another commentor stated it was hard to get out of the pan. However, the molassas seems to slow down the process, and it took a full hour to bake to done. Worth the wait, and then some! Out of this world, chewy, rich and delicious.
I’m afraid I have to agree with the last reviewer as to why this is called “depression cake”. I ate one slice of this cake and threw the rest away – talk about depressing! The flavour wasn’t bad but the texture was brutal, it was very dry and tough. I can’t see myself making this one again without some major changes, although I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Sorry!
Now I know why this is called Depression Cake — it tastes awful! There is too much baking soda and not enough sugar. I won’t be making this again, but if you’re out of eggs and are going to try it, at least double the sugar and use 2 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda (instead of vice versa as stated in the recipe).
Wonderful taste, though it refused to get out of the pan! I cut this cake into brownie-like pieces and removed them individually from the pan… made for a messy job, but I didn’t mind… all the more crumbs to pick at! 🙂 Next time I’ll use less sugar and raisins, and probably omit the allspice, because I prefer a more intense coffee flavour, and I found this to be rather sweet! Nevertheless, great recipe, and I WILL be making this again! Thanks!
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tried it. Rich, moist, and so light! I added an extra 1/2 cup raisins and used 3/4 c. white sugar and 3/4 c. brown sugar. Finished by sprinkling confectioner’s sugar over the cooled cake. A tip to cool the coffee mixture: partially fill sink with cold water; set pan in and stir until mixture cools (which it does quickly!) I also baked the cake in a pyrex 9 x 13 pan; it was done to a “T” after 40 minutes.
Delicious, and so easy! I added a cinnamon glaze to the top because the top was dry the next day, but it didn’t really need the extra flavour – and inside was still very moist
This cake hit the spot when I wanted something sweet but didn’t have any eggs in the house. I can’t believe how light, fluffy, and moist it turned out. It did take a long time for the coffee mixture to get to room temperature, but that’s probably because I baked this cake on a very hot summer day. I think that this recipe would be a good one for people who don’t bake to try, since it turned out fantastic even in my quirky oven!