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Joan Kerns from Salisbury, N.C., was looking for recipes for cakes made without eggs. She has a granddaughter who is highly allergic to eggs, both the yolks and the whites, and she wanted to be able to make a cake she could safely eat.

Beatrice Odom from St. Pauls, N.C., says that she has two great-grandchildren who are also allergic to eggs and that she found a very good recipe for a “no egg cake” a few years ago in a magazine.

This simple one-bowl cake is extremely moist and rich, and the delicious chocolate cream cheese frosting gives the cake a lovely finish. Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a glass of ice-cold milk and I can promise you no one will ever miss the eggs.

NO-EGG CHOCOLATE CAKE

Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons vinegar

In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Add water, oil, vanilla and vinegar; mix well (batter will be thin). Pour into a greased 13-inch-by-9-inch-by-2-inch baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely.

Frosting

1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup baking cocoa

Dash salt

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter. Add the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, salt, milk and vanilla; mix well. Spread over the top of the cooled cake. Store in refrigerator.

Makes 12-15 servings.

Per slice (based on 15): 407 calories, 17 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 4 grams protein, 63 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 15 milligrams cholesterol, 354 milligrams sodium

Recipe Requests

— Janet Stout from Baltimore is searching for a recipe she lost for Cornflake Cookies. She used to have a recipe for the cookies that came from a generic box of the cereal 10 to 15 years ago.

— Margaret Long of Baltimore would like to find a recipe for a Cherry-Nut Fruitcake. She lost the recipe and would like to make the cake for her family during the holidays.

If you are looking for a hard-to-find recipe or can answer a request, write to Julie Rothman, Recipe Finder, The Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278, or e-mail recipefinder(at)baltsun.com.

Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service