Cookbook author and blogger Deb Perelman, founder of Smitten Kitchen, says she is not one of those “on a whim” bakers and would get destroyed in a TV baking competition. She doesn’t see flour, butter and a cup of buttermilk and run with it. She like formulas and percentages. She researches and plans. But Deb realized about two hours before leaving for her big Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago-she is always in charge of desserts-that she had forgotten to make one for her sister, who is vegan. But Deb had an idea: Wacky Cake-a.k.a. Cockeyed Cake. It’s an egg-free, butter-free, milk-free Depression-era chocolate cake that still manages to be as dark and moist as a cake with all of these things. Deb tinkered with the formula a bit, and this came out of the oven 45 minutes later, a plush, fragrant, perfect fall cake.
Get the recipe and shop Deb’s Thanksgiving essentials: bit.ly/4827rOp