Cocoa Cake

Those of you who know me well…you will know that I have lots of opinions on good cake! 🙂
What constitutes a good cake for me?  Fresh ingredients, a scratch recipe and real butter cream icing.  Don’t give me the fluffy blue stuff from the grocery store–what is that made of anyway???

Just like everything else that goes into my grocery cart and comes out of my kitchen–if I don’t know what it is, can’t pronounce it, or don’t think it should be listed as an ingredient-it doesn’t get a chance!

Next time you are at the store thinking of buying a cake mix–look at the ingredient listing…some contain more than 20 ingredients! AND most often they are more expensive and take just as much time to prepare as a scratch cake.  I challenge you to try a scratch cake and see how easy they really are!

As mentioned previously, my favourite cookbook “Food that Really Schmecks” by Edna Staebler, is the book that all my scratch cakes have come from.  They are easy, moist and delicious–just like they should be 🙂  …and of course I top them all with a butter cream icing of some sort!

Here is our favourite Birthday Cake:

The Best Cocoa Cake Ever
1/2 cup soft butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk
1 3/4 cup flour
1tsp salt
1tsp baking soda

Cream the butter.  Add the sugar and keep creaming.  Add the eggs and cream well, until light and fluffy.  Dissolve cocoa in boiling water, and add milk to mixture.  Combine with the first mixture.  Mix together flour, soda and salt-add to the other mixture and beat well.  Butter a square cake pan and pour in the batter.  Bake at 350degrees for about 45 minutes.  Cool completely

Chocolate Butter Cream Icing
3-4 tbsp soft butter
2 cups (or more depending on dryness and how much icing you want to make)  Icing sugar
3-4 tbsp cold coffee
3-4 tbsp cocoa
pinch salt

Cream butter and add some icing sugar.  Beat.  Continue to alternate sugar, coffee and cocoa until the mixture is light and fluffy and will hold a “peak”.
Enjoy!