Georgia’s 7th Birthday and the Egg-Free Chocolate Cake

Hello everybody!! I am in an excellent mood and fueled by caffeine, so prepare yourselves 🙂

It has been a positively FRENETIC two weeks. Mostly all good stuff with a few curve balls thrown in, ’cause that’s how we roll in this cosmos. The highlight was most certainly my baby girl turning 7 years old this past weekend. Birthdays, as I have mentioned before, are a huge deal in our house and we love to pull out all the stops. But it will be hard for Georgia to top this most recent celebration, which spanned three days!! And I didn’t have to make any princess cupcakes. Phew!

Her birthday weekend included a trip to the movies with Dad, a pedi/mani with me, a family party complete with both grandmothers, and — the Big Event — a costume birthday party with her friends.

Check out the birthday girl in her hula outfit, along with her brother, mugging as Future Birthday Girl.

He could be ME at that age,  EXCEPT I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a dress, never mind in heels or with a pocketbook. At the age of 11 I was very attached to my Little League cap…here I am in my sheriff’s hat 🙂

The party was a big, noisy blast. They pulverized a pinata. They freeze-danced. They also played a cool game to keep them entertained while Georgia opened all her gifts — Birthday Present Bingo!

There were also several hotly contested rounds of musical chairs, where we had to invoked Rock-Paper-Scissors to solve a few ties without causing tears.

Hello Advil 🙂

But, seriously, I love having birthday parties at home and the 2 hours of noise chaos ear-splitting shrieking is totally worth it when it goes down in the books as the “Best! Birthday! Ever!”

And, yes, there was cake. But this time it had to be special. I had two little girls coming who had life-threatening allergies to nuts, tree nuts, and/or egg. I really wanted to have a cake that everyone could have – I always feel bad when one little kid has to bring their own cupcake to a party! The nut allergy was manageable. I only had to check the labels to be sure the frosting, cocoa powder, and sprinkles were all safe. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act ensures that major allergens are listed on the label. However, I wasn’t sure if companies are required to provide information on whether a product is “prepared in a facility that also processes nuts, …”  So, I made a quick call to Cake Mate customer service to check on the sprinkles, and quickly learned they were safe.

The egg allergy was a little more challenging.  I talked with my friend about my options so that her daughter could enjoy the cake like everybody else. She gave me the egg-free cake recipe she uses frequently to make cupcakes for just such an occasion and I decided to give it a try. I had her pack a cupcake in her daughter’s lunch, just in case I messed it up 🙂

As it turns out, I needn’t have worried at all. This is a GREAT cake recipe for anybody — there was absolutely no discernible difference in the texture, moistness, or flavor.  The egg is replaced by a combo of baking soda and vinegar, which when mixed, cause bubbles, and hence, some leavening. So simple! The only trick is to be sure that, once the baking soda and vinegar are combined,  you mix it all up and get it into the oven without delay. The bubbles don’t last forever!

If you ever find yourself in the mood for a yummy chocolate snack cake, and no eggs on hand, NO PROBLEM! This’ll do the trick. This recipe is for a single 8×8 square pan or a 9″ layer, but I doubled it for the party for the layer cake.

Egg-less Chocolate Cake
Recipe courtesy of Jennifer Kirwin
Yields 1 square 8×8 cake, 1 9-inch layer, or about 9 cupcakes

1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar or granulated sugar (*I used brown)
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1) Preheat oven at 350. Grease/flour your choice of pans.
2) Mix the dry ingredients together:  flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt
3) Mix the wet ingredients together:  water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
4) Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir with large mixing spoon until all dry ingredients are moistened and everything is well combined. Pour immediately into prepared pan and put into oven.

Cooking times:
35-40 minutes for square or layer pan
28-30 minutes for cupcakes
To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center. The toothpick should come out clean.

Cool cake before removing from pan. Frost with powdered sugar or frosting as desired.

ENJOY!