World’s Easiest Chocolate Cake by Kathy Bashaar

Even in this century when women are as likely as men to have demanding careers, women still come under a lot of pressure to produce impressive-looking domestic scenes. Beautiful plates of food, containing exotic ingredients. Fully-furnished back decks complete with scented candles and perfectly-layered planters. A family Christmas card featuring everyone in coordinated holiday outfits, in front of a crackling fire and a pristine hearth. When I was a young mother, the pressure came from women’s magazines. Now, it’s social media. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a nice home. But I learned pretty quickly that you can put so much energy into how your family looks that you lose track of how they feel.

One of the things I love about my cake is that it’s so simple. It’s pretty forgiving in terms of precise measurement, so our children often helped me make it. Or, I could whip it together in about fifteen minutes, pop it in the oven, and then sit and play a game with them. Every time I make this cake, I’m reminded of what homemaking really is. It isn’t about creating a visual product to impress other would-be “influencers.” It’s about nourishing, body and soul, the other human beings entrusted to your care.

Note: Anything in italics is my commentary. The rest is the original recipe which I think was from Hershey’s and which I cut out of a magazine about 40 years ago. This cake is not fancy, but you can put it together in a snap with ingredients that most people always have around, and it is delicious. The cake is very moist and rich, and the icing can be adjusted to be sweeter for children, or more chocolatey for adults. This cake is a favorite in my family and I make this it several times a year for birthdays.

1-3/4 cups unsifted flour 2 eggs

2 cups sugar 1 cup milk

¾ cup cocoa powder 2 tsp vanilla

1-1/2 tsp baking soda ½ cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 tsp baking powder 1 cup boiling water

1 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease and flour two 9” or 3 8” round pans, or one 13×9 pan.

3. Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl.

4. Add remaining ingredients except boiling water, and mix on medium for 3 minutes.

5. Stir in boiling water. Batter will be thin

6. Pour into prepared pans and bake 30-35 minutes for layers or 35-40 minutes for 13×9.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons softened butter

Cocoa powder, anywhere from 1/3 cup to ¾ cup (see note below)

2-2/3 cups unsifted powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1. Cream butter in mixer bowl

2. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder alternately with milk and beat

3. Beat to spreading consistency, then beat in vanilla

If you are making this cake for children, use the smaller amount of cocoa powder and the full amount of powdered sugar in the icing, since children usually like things sweeter. When I’m making it for adults, I use the full ¾ cup of cocoa powder and as little as 2 cups of powdered sugar. I like to keep things simple, so I always just make this as a sheet cake in a 13 x 9. But it would look fancier as a layer cake.

Also important: If the cake is being made for a birthday, the birthday person gets to lick the icing beaters. Otherwise, the baker gets that privilege. As we say at St. Paul’s: “No exceptions.”