Depression cake

Depression cake is a type of cake that was commonly made during the Great Depression. The ingredients include little or no milk, sugar, butter or eggs, because they were then either expensive or hard to get. Similar cakes are known as "War Cake," as they avoided ingredients that were scarce or were being conserved for the use of soldiers. A common Depression Cake is also known as "Boiled Raisin Cake," or "Eggless, Milkless, Butterless Cake." "Boiled" refers to the boiling of raisins with the sugar and spices, to make a syrup base, early in the recipe. Some bakers do use butter in this recipe though. Boiled raisin-type cakes date back at least to the American Civil War.^[1]

Ingredients

The ingredients include:

• sugar,
• strong coffee, water, or apple juice,
• shortening,
• dark raisins or diced pitted prunes,
• apple,
• unsifted all-purpose flour,
• baking soda,
• baking powder,
• cinnamon,
• allspice,
• clove,
• nutmeg,
• chopped walnuts, almonds, or pecans.

Pears were sometimes substituted for apples.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jean Anderson. Quick Loaves: 150 Breads and Cakes, Meat and Meatless Loaves. 
2. ^ Cooks.com - Recipe - Depression Cake