Recently my mom gave me an old family recipe she had found called “WWI 1918 Poor Man’s Cake.” Due to the scarcity of dairy and eggs, during World War I, this recipe was developed out of necessity. I’m not really sure who invented this recipe to start with, but if you do a quick google search you’ll find all kinds of variations of this “Poor Man’s Cake.” So, basically, our great grandmothers developed a recipe for vegan cake before “vegan” was even a thing!

This recipe is simple and you may not even need to go to the store to get any of these ingredients. You could even substitute another dried fruit for raisins, if you’re not a big raisin fan. Poor Man’s Cake was really easy to make dairy free because the recipe called for margarine (which I never use) so I just substituted Coconut Oil. I simply replaced the all-purpose flour with a combination of Tapioca flour and white rice flour. This is a really simple cake to bake and makes a great breakfast or snack. An added benefit of baking this cake is your house smells wonderful!

Ingredients:

1 Cup                                     Granulated Sugar

1 Cup                                     Boiling Water

2 Tablespoons                  Coconut Oil

1/2 Pound                           Raisins

1 Cup                                    White Rice Flour

½ Cup                                    Tapioca Flour

1 teaspoon                         Salt

1 teaspoon                         Cinnamon

½ teaspoon                        Allspice

1 teaspoon                         Baking Soda

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees F. Grease an 8” x 8” pan and set aside

Simmer the Sugar, Boiling Water, Coconut oil and raisins for 5 minutes while stirring occasionally. After 5 minutes, remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, cinnamon, allspice and baking soda. Mix together until well-blended. (after the wet ingredients have cooled), pour into the dry ingredients and stir together until combined. Pour this batter into the greased pan (and make sure its spread evenly). Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!