The cake recipe you all asked for!
People swooned, dogs howled, and crowds surged as word got out about the Aunt Mike’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake we served at our 20th anniversary celebration.
It’s an old family favorite of our team member (and home baker extraordinaire!), Angela Carlson. Angela shared a photo of the very well-used recipe from her maily files (fortunately, she also shared the text, below),
For details on “Aunt Mike”, see the footnote.
Aunt Mike’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake – Ingredients
2 C Sugar
1 1/3 C Flour
3/4 C Cocoa (sift for best results)
1 1/2 tsps Baking soda
1 1/2 tsps Baking powder
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 C Milk
1/2 C Oil
2 tsps Vanilla
1 C boiling water
For the Frosting – see details below.
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (& flour) 2: 9″ x 1 1/2″ round pans or a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ rectangular pan. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients then add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well then add the boiling water. Mix again (batter will be thin).
Pour into prepared pans and bake until done (check with toothpick), about 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool (Cool pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on racks before frosting – see recipe, below)
Serves 8-10
For the Frosting:
Option 1: For Frosted Layer Cake:
6 Tbsps Softened Butter
1/2 C Cocoa (sifted)
2 2/3 C Powdered Sugar (sifted)
1/3 C Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
Option 2: For 13 x 9 Sheet Cake
3 Tbsps Softened Butter
1/4 C Cocoa (sifted)
1 1/3 C Powdered Sugar (sifted)
2 1/4 Tbsps Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Footnote: Why is it called “Aunt Mike’s Chocolate Cake”?
Good question. And I leave it to our recipe contributor, Angela, to tell the tale in her own words:
Here’s a little bit about my Aunt ‘Mike’ (Myra Joy: RIP 2022). Living in Dallas, TX, she married my Dad’s older brother Lovell until he passed. For 30+ years after that, she was best friends with my Dad and his wife Sheral. She was a vibrant collector of over 200 cookbooks, travelled the country in an RV and loved to socialize. Needless to say, she was a little bit quirky in a lovely sort of way. Once you try this recipe, you’ll know why it’s “THE” Birthday Cake in our family. Serve with Vanilla Bean ice cream for next level deliciousness.