The following chocolate cake recipe has many virtues. 1) It's delicious: rich, moist, very chocolatey. 2) It's super easy and fast. It's as easy and fast as making a mix; easier if you factor in how hard it is to get those stupid plastic bags open. 3) It's cheap: it doesn't use butter or eggs or expensive chocolate. It's perfect for "oh, let's have something chocolate" or "we need to plan a cake for the party."
Mrs. C's Cake
3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. soda
6 T. cocoa
Mix dry ingredients. Add:
3/4 c. oil
2 t. vanilla
2 T. vinegar
2 cups water
Mix well; bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
It handles well and tastes good with buttercream icing, which is handy if you need to do fancy decorations for some purpose. (I'm making one for my brother-in-law's graduation tomorrow.) But for the ultimate chocolate cake experience, you leave the cake in the pan and make
Chocolate Skillet Icing
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
Mix in a skillet and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute; remove from heat. Add 2 t. vanilla. Stir until lukewarm, then pour on cake.
2 comments:
The best-ever topping for chocolate cake - better than broiled coconut frosting on German chocolate cake, even - is, in my opinion, penuche frosting. This is a mixture of brown sugar and butter, which you boil on the stove for a few minutes, take off the heat, add powdered sugar, and pour over the cake. Yummy! When I was young, I used to pour as little over the cake as I thought I could get away with and then lick out the bowl. I used to dream about growing up so I could skip the cake altogether, pour the frosting directly into the pan, and eat it straight.
Hmm . . . I love penuche frosting on spice cake (it was one of the few things I ever craved while pregnant). But it never occurred to me to try it on chocolate cake. I'm still not sure whether it's worth the risk, I'll have to ponder it further.
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