Harold's Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake.

We celebrated a family birthday this past weekend {my father-in-law!}, which gave me an opportunity to bake a cake for the first time in I don't know how long. I love to bake but don't do it often enough - except for a special occasion. This is because having cake around on a regular basis is dangerous for my willpower on a Monday night {not that last night would be an example or anything...}

This is my Grandma K's chocolate cake recipe, named after my grandpa Harold as it was his favorite dessert. This is the only chocolate cake recipe Grandma ever made. Grandpa Harold loved it with chocolate frosting and he used to spread butter on each slice like you would on bread. A Midwestern delicacy? My grandparents have since passed away, but this photo was displayed at our wedding last summer in memory. So sweet and young!

 
This recipe for homemade chocolate cake has been tucked away on my cookbook shelf for a few years, originally published in a local church cookbook from my hometown in Iowa in 2001. Grandma submitted Harold's Favorite Chocolate Cake recipe as a "tried and true" dessert. She was right - it is.

The recipe calls for the addition of 1 cup of cold water to the batter. For an extra special ingredient, I used cherry juice instead. The juice was leftover in my freezer from making Raw Chocolate Cherry Brownie Bars, after cooking down the cherries on the stove. If you're looking for a subtle flavor to go along with chocolate, you can sub any other type of liquid for the cold water in this recipe.

Instead of Grandpa's favorite chocolate frosting, I used a whipped frosting recipe from Basically Yummy Baking. {I used 2 Tablespoons of tart cherry juice and skipped the maraschino cherries}. This was my first attempt making whipped cream frosting and it was incredibly easy and light. Covered with sprinkles of course.

Harold's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Ingredients~
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 sticks butter
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa {unsweetened}
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons baking soda + 1/2 cup hot water

How to~
*Cream together the sugar, eggs, and butter.
*Add flour, cocoa, and cold water - mix well.
*Add 2 teaspoons baking soda, dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water - add and mix well.
*Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes {9x13 inch pan}.