On the eve of my daughter’s fifth birthday, I found myself (as usual, it seems) scrambling around, trying to tie up a dozen loose ends in order to make her day as special as she is. One of the things I’d put off until the end was baking her birthday cake. And as I whirled around my kitchen, scooping and dumping and mixing up the chocolate cake she’d requested, I was very, very grateful I had a stellar (and simple!) go-to cake recipe to rely on.
If given my druthers, I’m a person who enjoys and prefers cooking from scratch. Of course, I appreciate knowing exactly what’s in the food our family eats—and scratch cooking makes that possible—but mostly I love the challenge of making things myself. I enjoy kneading bread and baking granola. I’ve had fun rolling pasta and culturing yogurt. And, let’s just face it: homemade cookies just taste better than other cookies.
However.
I am also a busy mama of two active kiddos, and, as much as I love the idea of playing in my kitchen all day, it’s just not possible for me to make everything from scratch. So I pick and choose, and I’ve amassed a collection of recipes that have become staples—recipes that are almost as simple to prepare as a pre-packaged version of a dish (and usually taste better too!) My daughter’s chocolate cake falls into that category, and as I was running around that evening measuring flour and sugar, I was so glad I was able to make her a homemade birthday cake, even though I was so short on time.
I imagine many of you are running around right now as well, tying up loose ends, preparing for birthdays and showers and other special events, and so I’d like to share my go-to cake recipe with you. Because while boxed cake mixes are delicious, there’s just something special about a homemade cake! Trust me. This is one recipe you’ve definitely got time to make.
Simple Chocolate Cake
2 cups granulated sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. Set 1 cup of water to boiling in a small pan on the stove. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla to the bowl, and combine the mixture with an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed for two minutes, then stir in the boiling water until it’s well-combined (the batter will be thin). Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool 10 minutes, then remove them from the pans to wire racks. Cool the cakes completely before frosting.
Enjoy!
Posted by Shannon, a Dot-arilla blogger