Fat Chocolate Cake from Green Pastures

½ lb. butter (2 sticks) 2 ¼ c. flour

2 ½ c. sugar 1 c. + 2 T. cocoa

4 eggs 2 t. baking soda

½ t. vanilla 2 ¼ c. milk

Oven 350. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add some of the milk. Add the dry ingredients all at once, mixing well. Then add the remaining milk, mixing until smooth. Grease and pour into either 3 layer pans, or 2 layer pans with 2 “ sides or a 13”x9” pan. Bake 30-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Fudge Icing (makes a LOT)

1 lb. butter (4 sticks) (room temp.)

1 ½ t. vanilla

2 ½ lb. powdered sugar

2 ½ c. + 2 T. cocoa

¾ c. + 2 T. half n half or whipping cream.

(room temp.)

Mix butter and vanilla. Add dry ingredients all at once and mix until butter is evenly distributed. Add the half –n-half or cream until the desired texture is achieved.

Commentary and original detailed instructions. This recipe just barely fits in a 9x13 pan. Half the icing recipe is sufficient for frosting a 9x13 cake, although a bit more is needed if you want to do decorate trim.

Original Instructions (instead of my simplified.)

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the side of two 9 or 10 cake pans (if using 9-inch pans make sure they have 2 inch sides) with melted butter and dust with flour. (IB I just used Pam on the entire pan.)

Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs one at a time and fold into mixture. Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, alternately fold dry and liquid ingredients into creamed mixture until smooth. Pour cake batter into the prepared pans and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool in the pans for 15 minutes at room temperature. Invert onto wire racks or cake circles and finish cooling. May refrigerate or freeze until needed.

When cool, fill and frost top and sides generously (about ½ inch thick), stacking the layers. Excess icing can be used to decorate the cake or stored in the refrigerator for later use. If desired, decorate the top of cake with whole strawberries, plain or dipped in chocolate.

Cake freezes well (without the berries). Makes on large 9 or 10 inch cake.

Icing details:

With mixer, cream the butter in a large mixing bowl. Soft dry ingredients together and beat into creamed butter a little at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl. Beat in liquid ingredients a little at a time until the mixture reaches spreading consistency.

Note: It takes more than an 8 ounce box of unsweetened cocoa to make the recipe (10 ounces actually, by weight.) The brand of cocoa can affect the final darkness of the icing. Green Pastures uses commercial Baker’s cocoa. (IB, I used Hershey’s)