I fought the chocolate and the chocolate won. I managed to curb the cravings over the weekend, but I really wanted chocolate cake, and finally caved in today. (and a slightly blurry cake -- maybe that's why it's wacky?)
My favorite chocolate cake recipe was printed in a cookbook my mom's church put out in the late '70s or early '80s... we've been making it for almost as long as I can remember! It's quick, it's easy, it calls for common ingredients and requires no fancy tools. No mixers, no beaters, no bowls. Just a cake pan and a fork. Well, measuring spoons and cups, too.
It's not a fancy, take-to-the-neighbor's-dinner-party cake. It's a weeknight family dessert cake. Why? You may understand better when you see the recipe:
Wacky Cake
Sift together in an 8x8 pan:
1 cup sugar
3 heaping tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
Make three holes in mixture. Put 6 tbsp. cooking oil in one, 1 tsp. vanilla in second, and 1 tbsp. vinegar in third. Pour 1 cup cold water over all. Stir with fork. Bake 1/2 hour at 350. Frost with favorite icing.
Isn't that fun?!? When you're a kid, this is the coolest, weirdest, bestest recipe ever. Now that I'm 30-something (eek!), it's still cool and weird and great, and I know exactly how and why it's so good. Do you...? =)
Because it's mixed and baked in the same pan, it's not exactly a cake you turn out (I've never dared try it, anyway!) and frost all fancy-like (hence the no-dinner-party comment). You leave it in the pan, smear on whatever you want, and serve it as is. Tonight, I sprinkled a couple handfuls of milk chocolate chips on top as soon as it came out of the oven, then put back it in the (now turned off) oven for just a minute. The chips melted and I spread them out with a rubber spatula to make an instant icing. I have no idea where I read that trick, but it stuck with me, and this is the first time I've tested it. It worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself.
It never comes out of the pan perfectly -- especially the first couple of pieces! But what it lacks in elegance, it more than makes up for in flavor. It's a moist, fluffy, chocolatey, satisfying cake.
