WWI War Cake: The 1918 Boiled Raisin Recipe That Fed a Nation

In the spring of 1917, the United States Food Administration asked American households to give up wheat, sugar, butter, and eggs on alternating days of the week. Herbert Hoover, then in charge of the whole effort, called it “voluntary rationing.”

The campaign posters went up in every town. “Food Will Win the War.” “Wheatless Mondays, Meatless Tuesdays.” A poster of a housewife holding a mixing bowl (I love this mixing bowl set) beside the slogan “She Is Doing Her Part.”

What came out of those kitchens in 1917 and 1918 was a cake unlike any that came before it. No eggs. No butter. No milk. Just sugar, water, raisins, lard, spices, and a short handful of flour. Boiled together in a pot first to soften the fruit, then stirred into the dry ingredients and baked.

That is WWI War Cake. Also called “Poor Man’s Cake,” “Depression Cake,” and in the 1920s simply “Boiled Raisin Cake.” It survived the war, the 1920s, the Great Depression that followed, and a second world war. The method has not changed since Mrs. Hoover reportedly served a version of it at the White House in 1918.

Here is the original method, with period ingredients, why the boiling step matters, and how to bake it in a modern oven.

Where War Cake Came From

The earliest printed recipe titled “War Cake” appeared in the 1918 Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety pamphlet Food Saving and Sharing, distributed free to every household that requested one.

The recipe was built backward from what a household might still have on hand.

Sugar was rationed. So was butter. Eggs were expensive and often set aside for children or the sick. Flour was stretched with oats, cornmeal, or rye. Lard was easier to find than butter in most American kitchens.

The cake assumed you had a pot, a wood or coal range, and a tin of raisins. That was enough.

By 1919, nearly every community cookbook published in the United States included some version of it. Most called it “War Cake.” A few called it “Poor Man’s Cake” to keep it in rotation after the armistice.

When the Great Depression hit in 1929, the same recipe became a household staple again, sometimes with cocoa added to make it feel more like a dessert. The WWII rationing era of 1942 revived it a third time, by which point most American cooks had been making it for 25 years.

The Boiling Step Is the Whole Trick

War cake is not mixed the way a modern cake is mixed. You boil the sugar, water, raisins, lard, and spices together for five minutes in a heavy pot, then let the mixture cool before adding the flour and leavening.

That step does three jobs.

The boiling softens the raisins and draws sugars out of them, which sweetens the whole batter past what the added sugar alone would do.

It melts the lard evenly into the water so the fat is distributed through every spoonful once the flour goes in, without needing a creamed-butter stage.

And it kills any wild yeast or bacteria on the dried fruit, which made the cake keep for longer in pre-refrigeration kitchens. A well-made War Cake stayed moist for nearly two weeks in a tin beside the hearth.

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup granulated sugar (or 1 cup brown sugar, for a deeper flavor)
• 1 cup dark raisins
• 1/2 cup currants or chopped dates (optional, traditional)
• 1/3 cup lard, or solid vegetable shortening, or unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Period households would have used lard without hesitation. Crisco was not yet widespread in 1918; lard was the standard kitchen fat. Modern bakers can use vegetable shortening for a lighter crumb, or butter if eggs-butter-milk rationing is not an issue.

For more on period fats, our old recipe ingredient glossary walks through lard, dripping, tallow, and shortening.

Instructions

Step 1: Boil the Fruit, Sugar, Water, and Fat

In a medium-heavy saucepan (this is the FATHER of all saucepans!), combine the water, sugar, raisins, currants (if using), lard, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally so the sugar dissolves and the fat melts. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and cook for 5 full minutes.

The raisins will plump up and turn dark. The liquid will darken and smell strongly of spice. The fat will be fully melted into the syrup.

Step 2: Cool Completely

Remove the pot from the heat. Let it cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes to an hour.

The 1918 pamphlet instructed cooks to “set the pot on the cold stone” or windowsill. A modern kitchen can cool it on the counter, or transfer to a heatproof bowl if that helps.

Do not skip the cooling step. If the mixture is still warm when you add the flour and baking soda, the soda starts reacting too soon and the cake will be flat. Patience here is everything.

Step 3: Preheat and Prepare the Pan

Heat the oven to 325 F (165 C), a “slow oven” in 1918 terms. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan or an 8 by 8 inch square pan with lard or butter and dust lightly with flour.

Paper liners were not common in 1918 kitchens; a generously greased and floured pan is authentic and works fine.

Step 4: Sift and Fold in the Dry

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

Pour the cooled raisin mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a wooden spoon (Love environmet & style? Get this bamboo spoon set) until just combined, with no streaks of flour visible. Do not overmix. The batter will look thick and studded with fat plump raisins.

Step 5: Bake in a Slow Oven

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes for a loaf pan, or 40 to 45 minutes for an 8-inch square pan. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

The top should be deep golden brown and slightly cracked, with the aroma of spice filling the kitchen. Most 1918 cookbooks described the finished cake as “rich and fragrant.”

Step 6: Cool in the Pan Before Slicing

Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into thick slices and serve plain, or with a thin dust of powdered sugar if you can spare it.

How It Would Have Served a Household in 1918

The War Cake fed a family of five for almost a week. Period housewives sliced it thinly and wrapped it in waxed paper for lunch pails and school satchels, alongside a boiled egg or a hunk of cheese when available.

A wedge was also the standard offering when a neighbor or a soldier on furlough called at the door. The cake stood in for butter cookies and iced layer cakes of pre-war hospitality. It was not a luxury, but it was proof that a household was holding up its end of the rationing effort without going hungry.

In 1918 church cookbooks, War Cake recipes frequently came bundled with a small note: “When sugar returns, serve with plain icing. Until then, serve as is.” That note was still showing up in Depression-era reprints twenty years later.

Period Variations

• New England version (1918): Added 1/4 cup molasses and reduced sugar to 3/4 cup. Produced a darker, stickier loaf.
• Prairie version (1918): Used 1/2 cup cornmeal in place of 1/2 cup of the flour. Coarser texture, more substantial.
• Depression Chocolate War Cake (1930s): Added 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the flour. This is the direct ancestor of WWII Crazy Cake, though much denser and fruit-heavy.
• Canadian War Cake: Published in the 1915 Edmonton Cook Book. Uses brown sugar and golden syrup in place of granulated sugar.
• WWII update (1942): Substituted dried egg powder (1 tablespoon) into the cooled syrup for a slightly softer crumb. The raisin-and-boil method stayed identical.

Tips From the Old Kitchen

• Use a heavy pot for the boiling step. A thin saucepan scorches the sugar and ruins the batch.
• Do not skip the full 5-minute boil. The original pamphlet was very specific. Under-boiled raisins stay tough and chewy in the finished cake.
• The cake improves overnight. A slice the day after baking is noticeably better than one eaten fresh. Period cooks often baked it on Saturday for Sunday dinner.
• Wrapped in waxed paper (or plastic wrap) in a tin, it keeps at room temperature for a solid week and freezes well for three months.
• Old recipes called for “saleratus” in place of baking soda. Same thing, different century. See our ingredient glossary for the full translation table.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between WWI War Cake and Depression-era Crazy Cake?

Different eras, different methods, different results. War Cake (1917 to 1918) is a boiled fruitcake, dense and raisin-heavy, made by boiling the wet ingredients first. Crazy Cake (Depression and WWII) is a chocolate cake mixed directly in the pan with vinegar and baking soda. Same spirit of ration-era frugality, two completely separate recipes.

For the full history of the crazy cake side of the family, see our guide on crazy cake vs wacky cake.

Why does the recipe not use eggs?

Eggs were expensive and often directed toward children, the sick, and soldiers’ rations in 1917 and 1918. Home cookbooks of the era emphasized eggless baking as part of the war effort. The boiled-fruit method compensates by providing moisture and natural sugars that would normally come from egg yolks.

Can I use butter instead of lard?

Yes. An equivalent amount of unsalted butter works well and gives a slightly richer crumb. Lard gives the most authentic texture and flavor for a historical bake.

Why is it called “War Cake”?

The name comes directly from the 1918 U.S. Food Administration pamphlets that promoted eggless, butterless, milkless baking as a household contribution to the war effort. The name stuck even after the armistice and reappeared in every subsequent American rationing period.

Can I add nuts?

Yes. Period recipes from rural New England and the Midwest often added 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or hickory nuts. Stir them in with the flour, not into the hot syrup.

Does this cake really keep for two weeks?

Close. Wrapped tightly in waxed paper and stored in a tin at room temperature, a War Cake stays moist and flavorful for 10 to 14 days. The sugar and boiled raisins act as natural preservatives. Modern plastic wrap extends that to about 16 days.

Is this a fruit cake?

Somewhat. It sits between a traditional English fruitcake (heavily studded with candied peel and spirits) and a plain spice loaf. War Cake was sometimes called “light fruitcake” in 1920s Midwestern cookbooks.

Tools for an Authentic War Cake

A heavy-bottomed saucepan handles the boil-and-simmer step without scorching. A thin pan will overheat in minutes on a modern range.

A traditional loaf pan gives the period shape of the cake. A heavy tin or enameled pan browns the crust better than a nonstick one.

If you want to source period-correct ingredients, pure leaf lard in a jar gives the most authentic 1918 flavor. It keeps in the fridge for six months and works beautifully for pie crusts as well.

For more wartime baking context, our guide on wartime ration kitchens covers the British side of the same story. The wartime cake recipes roundup collects the surviving American and British bakes of the era, and the cooking history timeline places War Cake in the longer evolution of American home baking.