Want to make a cake, but don’t have much time or many ingredients in the house? Try water cake: this is a lite, simple dessert that doesn’t call for eggs or butter. It’s good for kids because it isn’t super-high in calories, and there are many variations. For example, you can replace the water with orange or lemon juice, or you can add chocolate chips. Water cake is also perfect if you’re feeding vegans, because it contains no animal-products. Here’s how it’s done.
Ingredients for water cake
12 oz water (or orange juice for more flavor), 3 ½ cups Italian type 00 flour, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 2.8 oz sunflower seed oil, Grated zest of 1 lemon (or the beans from a vanilla pod), 2 tsp. baking powder
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Then add the sugar and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, combine the oil and water and mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the water and oil, and mix it all. When the oven is hot, pour the mixture into a greased cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Always test the cake with a toothpick in the center before removing it from the oven. If you like, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar.
Water cake is a lite and delicate dessert because it contains no eggs or butter. Be sure to sift the flour and baking powder together thoroughly, as this is the base for the batter and they must be evenly combined.
Vanilla is not essential but adds a sweet touch to water cake. Slice the vanilla pod down the side and use a small knife to scrape out the seeds.
Some people add lemon zest to the cake, but others prefer to add both juice (in place of the water) and zest.