Moist Chocolate Cake with Favorite Icing

Early in 2016, I made this cake to bring to Mom's for her usual Saturday night with her grandkids. It was a full house, just about all the kids were there: Tim, Ryan, Amanda, Ava, Patrick, Lorelei, Delilah, and even Mike stopped by for a bit (but, sadly for him, Mike did not stay to try this cake). The cake was a hit. I had been wanting to try this cake out for a while, but was afraid to make it when MDS and I would be the only ones to eat it. If I had been left alone with this cake, I know that I would have eaten it all myself. So, if you ever have to feed a full house, this cake should work just fine.

This cake is delicious and could be made for any occasion. I baked the cake in a pan instead of as a layer cake, which was called for in Mom's recipe. I think cupcakes would also be terrific. So, whatever size pan that you use, just adjust the baking time a bit. For example, Mom's recipe calls for nine-inch round pans and baking for 25 to 30 minutes; I used a 9x13 pan and baked the cake for about 40 minutes. The frosting takes a little more work than some frostings, but is worth the effort. But, I still need to work on the frosting texture because, although the resulting frosting still tasted delicious, it did not quite have the creamy texture that bakery cake frostings have. Interestingly, the recipe calls for a cup a coffee, but you do not taste the coffee in the cake.

Moist Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup hot coffee
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Sift the dry ingredients. Add oil, coffee and milk. Mix at medium speed for two minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat two more minutes. The batter will be very thin. Pour into two greased and floured 9X1 1/2 round pans. Bake at 325 for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans. Cool on wire racks.

Favorite Icing

• 1 cup milk
• 5 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Combine milk and flour in a saucepan; cook over medium heat until thick. Cover and refrigerate . In a mixing bowl, beat butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add chilled milk and flour mixture and beat for 10 minutes. Frost the cooled cake. Enjoy!