Also known as “Disaster Cake” because I made it once for one of my daughter’s birthday parties but I accidentally used a pan that was too small. About half-way through baking, it bubbled up and over the sides and the drippings burnt on the oven’s heating elements, stinking up the kitchen. I turned off the oven and sent my husband to Kroger for an emergency cake while I tried to air out the kitchen. After the other-wise successful party was over, I pulled the remaining “cake” out of the oven and it was delicious. I guess there was enough heat remaining in the oven to finish cooking the batter that was left in the pan.
Cake
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick of butter or oleo-margarine, also known as vegetable spread
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup shortening (thick vegetable fat: white stuff, comes in a can, buy Crisco or Mrs. Tuckers brand)
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 eggs, beaten with a fork
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (you can fake buttermilk if you don’t want to buy it: 2 teaspoons lemon juice plus 1/2 cup regular milk)
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla
Frosting
- 1 stick oleo
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 pound powdered sugar (soft sugar which has been sifted four times at the factory. It is not grainy and you can’t substitute regular sugar for it); sift the sugar when you get it home, just before baking with it, to restore its light texture.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 Tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup pecan halves
Make cake in five easy steps:
- Sift together the flour, sugar and salt for the cake. A sifter is best, but you can mix up the dry ingredients in a food processor as well.
- Boil the oleo, water, shortening, and cocoa powder in a 3-quart saucepan. Remove from heat when the mixture comes to a boil.
- Mix the beaten eggs, buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla.
- Add the hot liquids to the dry ingredients and beat with a mix-master. While the mix-master is still spinning, pour in the egg mixture.
- Grease a large casserole dish (9 x 13 pan) with shortening then pour the warm cake batter into the pan; bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake can be removed without any moisture or crumbs clinging to it. About this time, the sides of the cake will begin to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan.
While the cake is baking, mix up the frosting.
- Using the same 3-quart pot from the cake making (don’t bother to clean it, the ingredients are almost identical), melt the oleo and cocoa powder together over medium heat. Stir to prevent burning.
- Remove from heat and dump in the powdered sugar (remember to sift it first or whirl it around in a dry food processor to restore light texture). Stir to combine with oleo and cocoa.
- Add milk and vanilla and beat 5 minutes with a mix-master.
- Add in pecan halves and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until they are dispersed through the icing. Using a mix-master at this point just breaks up the pecans.
Allow the cake to cool 15 minutes, then spread the frosting over the top of the still-warm cake.
Serves 12