mom’s chocolate decadent cake
I have added other flavors to the frosting in the past, such as cherry, orange, and almond, depending on the outcome I wanted. I have also paired the cake with ganache and other frostings. This is the most requested chocolate cake I make and is the chocolate cake choice for family potlucks, parties, birthdays, and weddings. This cake carves and stacks well for simple or elegant specialty cakes. Two years ago, I made and donated a heart-shaped candy box cake for the Concan Cancer Relay for Life Valentine’s dance and auction, and I used this recipe.
Blue Ribbon Recipe
This chocolate cake deserves accolades galore; it's so good. The cake itself is tender and moist. But the homemade chocolate frosting is amazing. Poured over the cake while still warm creates the most wonderful layer of chocolate goodness when cooled. It is pure decadence.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- FOR FROSTING:
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons powdered cocoa
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
How To Make mom’s chocolate decadent cake
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Step 1For Cake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt butter in a 2-quart or larger saucepan; add cocoa and water. -
Step 2Bring to a boil.
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Step 3Remove from heat and stir in sugar.
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Step 4Add salt, soda, and flour. Stir well.
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Step 5Blend in eggs, milk, and vanilla.
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Step 6Bake in a 9x13 greased cake pan in a 400 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
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Step 7For Frosting: Melt butter in a medium saucepan; add cocoa and milk. Bring to a boil.
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Step 8Remove from heat and add water, vanilla, and sifted confectioners' sugar.
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Step 9Mix well. This frosting is not stiff.
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Step 10Frost the cake while the cake is hot, and the frosting is still warm.
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Step 11Let cool before cutting.
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Step 12Monday was a beautiful fall day, and I was sitting in the backyard perusing the pages of an old cookbook when Mom came to the screen door and said she wanted to sit outside. As she went to get her sweater, I went into the kitchen, cut a piece of her favorite chocolate cake, poured a glass of milk, grabbed a fork, and carried them out to the table under the pecan tree beside the garden where I had been sitting. I dressed the table with a quilted placemat mom had made and a vase of silk flowers. It looked so pretty with the sun filtering through the leaves of the tree, and I took a photo before I helped her out to the yard. “Oh my,” she exclaimed, as she walked towards the table, “it is absolutely beautiful.” “Yes,” I answered, “the birds are singing, and the sky is so blue.” She looked at me quizzically, and as she sat down and picked up the fork, she replied, giggling, “No, silly girl, the cake.” In a flash, her fork was in her mouth, and between chewing, I could barely understand her garbled words as she said, “This is the best chocolate cake I've ever had.”
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