chocolate cake

Preheat oven: 350° F
Baking time: 45 minutes approximately

I make this chocolate cake recipe that has been in my family as long as I can remember.  Each time it turns out great, tonight is no exception.  Now it is easier to put together then it was when my grandmother baked it when I was young.  In fact tonight, Terry says me to me, “aren’t you suppose to soak the cocoa in hot water for a while?”  I just put all of the ingredients in the mixing bowl and let the 1000 watts of Viking power beat the dickens out of it.  It occurs to me that the recipe has been passed down for so long that the original was likely written before we had electric power, and certainly before we had electric mixers.

So, I give you the updated version which accounts for power kitchen tools.

Combine in a bowl:

1/4 cup of soft butter
4 large eggs
1  1/2 cups of sugar

Beat these ingredients until the are silky smooth and light.  Simple with a good mixer.  Add to the butter, eggs and sugar mixture the following.

2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup of cocoa
1/2 cup of water
2 tbsp mexican vanilla
1 cup of sour milk
2 cups of flour

Beat these until smooth and creamy.  Butter and flour a 8 x 10 cake rectangle baking dish.  I have a beautiful red Emile Henry dish and it’s perfect for this recipe.  The batter fills the dish to about 3/4 of the depth, which I think is perfect.

Pour the batter into the dish and place in the centre of a preheated 350° F oven.  Bake for about 45 minutes, but use the cake testing technique; when the wooden skewer comes out clean the cake is done.  Be careful no to over bake.  Nothing worse than a dried out cake.   This cake is great with cream cheese icing.

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