A simple, moist Chocolate Cake that is perfect for any occasion! Also known as depression era cake, its so easy to make and you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry!
INGREDIENTS
3 cups Non-bleach All Purpose Flour
2 cups White Sugar
½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp White Vinegar
2/3 cup Sunflower Oil
2 cups Water
Icing:
½ cup Butter or Margarine
2 ½ cups Icing Sugar
2 tbsp Milk
½ tsp Vanilla
Or for Chocolate Icing add ¼ cup of Cocoa powder or ½ cup or so of melted chocolate
INSTRUCTIONS
Cake:
In a medium sized mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda & salt.
In a separate smaller bowl combine vanilla, vinegar, oil & water. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a whisk until completely combined and no lumps remain.
Pour batter in 2 greased 8 inch round cake pans or 1 well greased Bundt pan (This recipe also works for cupcakes if you like! However I would recommend use cupcake liners and cutting the baking time in half). Bake in a preheated oven set to 350F for 30-45 minutes, until tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If you are baking 2 cakes be sure to place both on the center rack with space between to allow proper air flow.
Remove from oven and let cake(s) cool for at least 15 minutes on a cooling rack before removing from pan(s).
To make icing:
Using you stand up or hand held mixer, cream butter until nice and smooth, adding in icing sugar a cup at a time with a tbsp. of milk and vanilla until it comes together smoothly. Use the whisk attachment for the fluffiest icing. If you are adding cocoa powder or melted chocolate add at the end. If you are making 2-8 inch cakes and you like to do a layer of icing in between you may want to double the recipe!
Now go for it and get icing! Do your best! The more cakes you bake the better you will get at decorating. But here is a few tips!
Freeze cake(s) before frosting to avoid crumbs in your icing!
Use a flat metal spatula to smooth icing over cake (IF you don’t have one a dull butter knife works too!). You can also use a regular rubber spatula but I find that the icing tends to stick to it, making it difficult to spread evenly.
& don’t judge yourself to harshly! Decorating is an art form and nobody is amazing at it on their first few tries! Plus even if your cake is a bit funny looking, chances are it will still be delicous!
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