What an amazing day! I'll be the first to admit that some of these "holidays" are silly. Do we really need a Humiliation Day? (January 3 in case you were wondering.)
But Chocolate Cake Day!?! THAT I can get behind.
My heart belongs to chocolate chip cookies but chocolate cake is a close second. I like my cake warm from the oven. This is opposed to white cake which I prefer cold from the refrigerator. Know thyself is all I'm saying.
If you're looking for a reason to celebrate, I thought I would share my two absolute most favorite chocolate cake recipes.
The first one comes from Anne Byrn and her book Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor. This is my FAVORITE cookbook. No joke, I've made every single cake in the entire cookbook. They are all amazing but the Darn Good Chocolate Cake is my favorite
Darn Good Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
one 18.25-oz. pkg. plain devil's food or fudge cake mix
one 3.9-oz. pkg. chocolate instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation:
Place rack in center of oven and heat to 350. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour, shaking out excess.
Place cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with electric beaters on low speed for one minute. Stop and scrape down bowl. Increase speed to medium and beat for two to three minutes more, scraping down bowl.
Fold in chocolate chips, making sure to distribute them well. Turn batter into the Bundt pan and bake at 350 for 58 to 62 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed and is just starting to pull away from the pan. Place on wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around edge of cake and invert onto a rack to cool for 20 more minutes. Meanwhile, prepare icing (recipe below).
Ingredients for Martha's Chocolate Icing (for 1-1/2 cups):
1 cup granulated sugar
5 Tbs. butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation:
Place sugar, butter and milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until it comes to a boil--about three to four minutes. Still stirring, let mixture boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in semisweet chocolate chips and stir smooth. Spread icing over a cooled cake or cupcakes, or pour over a Bundt cake.
Yield: 16 servings
My other most favorite chocolate cake is Coca Cola Cake. I first had this southern staple at Jestine's Kitchen in Charleston and I've been hooked ever since. Cracker Barrel has a good version but nothing is better than eating it fresh from your own oven.
Coca-Cola Cake
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Coca-Cola
- 1 ½ cups small marshmallows
- ½ cups butter or margarine
- ½ cups vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cups buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cups butter
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- 6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
- 1 box (16-ounces) confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Preparation:
- TOTAL TIME: 1 hr 15 min
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, sift the sugar and flour.
- Add marshmallows.
- In a saucepan, mix the butter, oil, cocoa and Coca-Cola. Bring to a boil and pour over dry ingredients; blend well.
- Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to batter along with eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well.
- Pour into a well-greased 9- by-13-inch pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost immediately.
Coca-Cola Cake Frosting:
To make frosting, combine the 1/2 cup butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa and 6 tablespoons ofCoca-Cola in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.
Enjoy your celebration!
