I can't come to everyone's house and make the cake for them, so I humbly offer the recipe.
with love, lea bob
Sweet-Chocolate Cake
(nice for a party)
1 package (4 oz) sweet cooking chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup butter or other shortening (use butter)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 c. sifted cake flour
(sift flour into a bowl and *then* measure.
Use cake flour, *not* the regular stuff. This is what makes the cake so light.
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
Coconut Pecan Filling (recipe follows)
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Melt chocolate in water; cool. Cream butter and sugar; add egg yolks, one at a time, beating *thoroughly* after each addition. Add vanilla and chocolate, mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, beat until smooth. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into three 8" or 9" layer pans, lined on bottom with paper (I have always just buttered/floured the pans instead). Bake in 350° F oven, about 35 minutes. Cool on a cake rack. Fill and frost.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream 2 tbsp. butter and 4 oz. cream cheese; add 1-1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate (melted, I use a double boiler), dash salt, 1-1/2 cups *sifted* confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup cream, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Mix well
Coconut Pecan Filling
In saucepan, mix 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 cup butter or margarine and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Cook over medium heat 12 minutes, stirring, until mixture thickens. Add 1 can flaked coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans. Beat until thick.
Assembly
Cool the cake in pans on cake racks until they're *just* cool enough to handle. Then place the cake rack on top, turn the whole thing over and pop out the layers. Hold your breath while you do this; you need the layers to come out whole. When the layers are *completely* cool, pick up one, brush the crumbs off the top and sides, place it on the cake dish and cover with half the filling. Place the second layer similarly, use the other half of the filling and top with the third layer (place the third layer upside down; it'll give you a nicer surface to frost.) Frost as usual, pausing to "clean up the edges" and lick your fingers.
Note: Cream cheese frosting is soft and stays soft. If the weather is hot, keep the cake in the refrigerator or the frosting will slide off and puddle around the bottom of the cake.
I have this recipe because Woman's Day magazine (in the '60's -- I don't even know if the magazine exists any more) used to include little half-sized recipe books in the back of the magazine. My mother tore them all out and put them in a file folder and called them "lea's dowry". When I got married (the first time), she gave me the file folder and I've been cooking out of it since then. I think I have every single recipe for casserole, decorative cookies and cakes that anyone could ever want. Between these and the Joy of Cooking, I've learned to make all *sorts* of deliciousness. So here, from the most torn up and stained one of the booklets, is *the* best cake recipe.
lea bob
(1/21/03)
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