Chocolate Cake

I'll be honest. Sharing this recipe feels a little like giving away my soul. Call me selfish, but I feel a little pride in knowing (or at least thinking) that I have the best chocolate cake recipe out there. In reality I know I've seen it floating around before and I know I'm not the only one who has this. But it does feel like I have the best kept secret when it comes to homemade chocolate cake.

I've never been (and still am not) a big cake fan. It's good, but not usually my dessert of choice. But growing up when it came to be my birthday and my Mom asked what kind of cake I wanted it was never an ice cream cake, funfetti, or even fancy ones like Costco (yes, I considered that fancy cake as a kid). It was always Mom's chocolate cake that I wanted for my birthday. I think I've asked her once where she got the recipe, and I'm pretty sure she said she just found it in a magazine, but it's always been a family favorite.

I will never forget the night when Mom didn't want to make dinner. Tired, I'm sure of wrangling four pesky children, with a husband who had been at work all day and was still out doing full-time school. When the age-old question was asked, "What's for dinner?" her reply was simply "I'm going to make cake." And she did just that. And I tell you... as a little kid it was a dream come true! She earned some major cool points that night! Sometimes I wonder if that's the reason (until recently) I found it completely acceptable to eat ice cream for lunch, or leftover brownies for breakfast. Don't misunderstand, this wasn't a usual thing in our house. But I think it eventually taught me that sometimes (especially as an adult), you just do things because, well.... you can.

I'm sure you don't need anymore convincing, but here are some reasons why I love this cake:

1. It's chocolate.. duh!
2. There are no eggs in the recipe. YUP! That means licking the spoon and bowl and not feeling guilty about it.
3. The frosting! I really don't like regular cake frosting, but this isn't really frosting. It's more of a chocolate companion to help make the cake extra fudgy (fudgey?) and bring just the perfect amount of extra moisture. Because we all know, the best cakes are moist cakes, right?
4. And I've recently found it's easy to substitute ingredients to make it dairy-free and soy-free to accommodate my new diet. It's also fat free and sugar free! (hahahaha ya right!)

Enough with the blah blah blah already... gimme some cake!

The recipe I've included is for an 8x8 pan, but by all means feel free to double that baby up into a 9x13 and have more to share! (or maybe just have more for breakfast and dinner) :)


Mom's Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil (or substitute same amount of coconut oil for soy-free option)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cold water

Mix dry ingredients in bowl
Form a well in the middle of the bowl (I've never really understood why this is necessary, other than making it look cool when adding the wet ingredients, nevertheless I follow the family directions)
Mix well
Pour into 8x8 pan (ungreased works fine, but feel free to grease if you'd like).
Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes

*I say about 25 minutes because as we all know, oven temperatures may vary and also your preference of mushy-ness will differ. I prefer a more mushy (read: moist) cake and so may take it out a few minutes before the timer goes off. Others who want a good solid (possibly dry) cake may want to wait longer. If you are cooking in a 9x13 pan my directions say cook for 35 minutes. But read the following paragraph to see my feelings on that.

**On an extra side note: Danny makes fun of me because I often won't use a timer when I cook. I just don't feel like they can be trusted. It's done when it's done, not when x amount of minutes have passed. I'll come check when I feel it's right, and adjust my "time" accordingly. He also needs exact measurements and I usually just eyeball it on lots of things (but not this cake). So obviously, do what works for you, as I'm sure you would.


Now comes the frosting/chocolate companion. Oh man, I really like that... chocolate companion. My recipe calls it icing, which I guess is a better description than frosting. But I still like chocolate companion better. (Again, this is to cover a 8x8 pan, please double if necessary).

Combine the following ingredients in a saucepan
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Add 1/2 cup boiling water

Stir constantly to avoid lumps
Boil, stir until thick*
Remove from heat
Add 3/4 Tablespoon butter (or dairy-free/soy-free option if so inclined- I use Earths Balance DF/SF)
Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

*When it says stir until thick, remember this is not Costco frosting. Icing really is a better word. It's not going to get crazy thick. It will be pouring consistency. Somewhere between hot fudge sauce and a thick hot chocolate.

That's it!! May I suggest waiting only a few minutes for it to "cool". Of course this is all personal preference, but I'd rather burn my mouth from eating it too hot than eat it too cold. Even with leftovers I always microwave my piece to get it piping hot again just to enjoy it better.

If you are a dairy eater this would pair perfectly with your favorite vanilla ice cream. In my book, however, nothing beats a giant glass of freezing cold milk (if I could) to go with it.


I know I'm not a professional food photographer, so forgive my amateurism, but I couldn't post without a picture

A New Year, a New Lifestyle

The new year has ushered in many new changes for us already, and the month isn't even over yet!

Danny was called to be Scoutmaster in our ward's boy scout troop. He is so excited about it! I am super excited as well since I get to be "in the loop" of the scouting world again. He's already really looking forward to scout camp this summer and is really dedicated to his new responsibilities. I was able to pull out my sewing machine and put it to good use to sew his patches on his uniform and hem his pants. They definitely weren't perfect, but I did a pretty good job for not having touched a machine since college. It was a good warm up for the sewing projects I'd like to do in the near future. I know it was pretty simple, but I was really proud of myself!

We also figured out where we'll be moving next month! What a weight off my shoulders! We are SO excited about moving! We are amazingly blessed to have a friend who owns a condo in Oceanside (just a mile down the street) and has offered to rent his place at a price that is within our budget. Not only is it bigger, but it's more than DOUBLE the size of the place we have now and has pretty much everything we could want at this stage of life. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. So not only will we be able to finally put Kylie in her own nursery (and not in the living room where she is now), but Danny will be able to have an office where he can work and not feel like he's restricted because of noise or keeping Kylie awake. And it has what I think is the biggest perk: a washer and dryer!! I can finally do laundry during the day without waiting for Danny to come home, and we don't have to leave the house! I'm so excited I've already started planning the layout of the rooms, color combinations for our extra bathroom and where we're going to put everything. Maybe I'll even post pictures after we get all settled in!

One of our biggest changes that has occurred just within the last couple of days is the change in our diet. I've been eating dairy-free for the last two months because Kylie has had some issues and dairy was believed to be the culprit. Unfortunately, she hasn't completely gotten better yet, so the doctor is thinking she may also have a soy issue. Because of this, I've also completely eliminated soy from my diet. I was never really a label checker in the past but had to recently because of the dairy thing. I thought avoiding dairy was bad, soy is in EVERYTHING! Like.....everything! 

But you want to know something funny? As much as I had thought "oh man, I don't know what I would do if I have to cut out soy", I'm actually really excited about it. It means eating healthier and being more conscious of what and how I am eating. Yes, it means I have to find a new list of recipes I had never looked into before, but it's been a fun adventure so far! There's a whole new world of fresh and healthy eating I've never experienced and I'm looking forward to experimenting. The substitutions and education has been a little tricky, but I haven't been disappointed by anything I've tasted yet! Just yesterday, Danny and I went to our local farmers market to check out options and found a whole scene of soy-free dairy-free products, as well as super fresh organic produce. Eating organic isn't necessarily an issue, but all of this has raised a better understanding and awareness for me.

I am so excited for this new change! It's going to continue to be tricky and challenging but I am determined to find a way to make it work. I am going to find the joy in it! I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing this all for my beautiful daughter, and in return she is blessing me with a new outlook on my diet and a healthy lifestyle that I know is going to bless us in the future.

I can only imagine what the next 11 months are going to bring.....