Excellent Chocolate Fudge Cake and Frosting

It isn't hyperbole--this really is an excellent cake, well worth making "from scratch."

Excellent Chocolate Fudge Cake

3 squares unsweetened chocolate

Me with cousin Terri, Roseburg, OR ca. 1955
(Chocoholics from childhood)

2-1/4 cups sifted cake flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

2-1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a small bowl melt chocolate over hot, not boiling water. Let cool. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Sift together the flour, soda and salt.

In a large bowl mix together butter and brown sugar, then add eggs and beat at high speed for five minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and cooled melted chocolate.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in half the dry ingredients alternately with half of the sour cream, beating well with the spoon after each addition until batter is smooth. Stir in boiling water. Pour into prepared pans (batter will be thin).

Bake at 350° F. for 35 minutes or until centers of cake spring back when lightly pressed with fingertips. Cool in pans on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then run a thin knife around sides of pans to loosen and turn onto wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

1 pound powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp of vanilla

Melt chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat just until melted. Combine sugar, milk and vanilla in a deep bowl and stir until smooth, then stir in chocolate mixture. Place bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and water, then beat with a wooden spoon until frosting is thick enough to hold its shape when spread.

Use about one fourth of the frosting to fill between the layers and the remaining to cover the cake.

Cucumber-Pepper Salad

Mom used to make marinated cucumbers as an easy side-dish, but this updated version has a little more punch and nutrition with the addition of onion and red pepper.

Cucumber-Pepper Salad

Dad, August 1965
(about the time we moved to Sunnyside, WA)

3/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp mustard seed 

(in a pinch you can just use prepared stone-ground mustard)

3 unpeeled “English” cucumbers

1/2 purple onion

1 red pepper, cored

Put vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and mustard seeds in a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool while you cut up the vegetables.

Slice the cucumbers into thin rounds. Slice the onion half and the pepper into strips (I generally cut them into shorter pieces for less messy eating). Place the vegetables into a bowl and mix, then pour the vinegar mixture over while it is still warm. Stir to mix and place in refrigerator until chilled. This can be stored in two quart-sized jars, if desired. It will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Easter Pâté

Mom made cute cakes for my birthdays!

When I was about 11 years old I was tasked with preparing Easter dinner for my family because my Mom worked. I cranked the oven up to 500° F to preheat while I lined the the roasting pan with foil. I put the ham in the oven and started whipping the cream to frost a cake Mom had baked. 

I poured the pint of cream into a bowl, and then I dumped a one-pound box of powdered sugar into the bowl and started beating the cream. Apparently I'd never really paid attention when Mom had whipped cream, because I thought this one-to-one ratio was correct. After running the beaters on high for about 5 minutes the cream was still not achieving the correct texture, so I added MORE sugar and continued beating. After another five minutes chunks of butter began floating around. That's when I smelled the ham burning. When I opened the oven door I found the ham completely charred on the outside. I can't remember for sure, but I think I started crying about then. I turned the oven down to a normal temperature and gave up on the churned cream. 

How did our Easter dinner turn out? Well, after removing the charred fatty layer from the outside, that was the juiciest and most succulent ham EVER, and Mom made some quite nice buttercream frosting for the cake. So it all ended well.

This recipe is good as a sandwich spread (especially if your ham is a little dry) and uses up some of those boiled Easter eggs. It is also good on crackers. You can substitute leftover beef roast for this recipe to make a sandwich spread.

Easter Pâté

3/4 to 1 cup ham, cut into chunks

2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled

2 or 3 small sweet pickles (or use relish)

2 or 3 Tbs (or squirts) of prepared mustard (I use stone ground)

Enough Mayo to moisten the mixture
Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Dill Weed to taste

Place ham, eggs and pickles in food processor and pulse until very finely minced. Add mustard and mayonnaise and mix to combine.