Recipe: Grandma Eda's Cocoa Cake

I wrote a long and grouchy rant about everything that happened at work yesterday and at the boring book meeting I had to go to, and I've decided to let it sit and rot in my draft file. Perhaps it will make compost and help me grow some lovely flowers...

Instead, I am going to post a photo of my beautiful 10 year old and her birthday cake and give you the recipe. It is my mother's recipe, handed down from my Grandma Eda, but I have tinkered with it by putting whole eggs into it instead of the whites my mother uses.

I suspect it makes it more like Grandma's original cake than my mom's. it certainly makes it moister, though it is okay with just egg whites!

This is NOT a tall cake--the layers are very thin. If you want a taller cake either use smaller cake pans, or bake two batches and make 4 layers.

It mixes in one bowl, and doesn't need a mixer, so this doesn't take much longer to prepare than a mix cake. So make it and enjoy it!

Grandma Eda's Cocoa Cake

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease and flour 2 round cake pans  (I use cooking spray instead of butter or margarine.)

In a large mixing bowl combine the following, but do NOT stir until all ingredients are added!

8T cocoa powder 

1 1/8 cups oil (corn or canola)  

2/3 cup milk  (skim is fine)   

3 eggs   

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

4 tsp  baking powder

Beat well until all ingredients are completely combined.

Pour into cake pans.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool, frost and decorate.

 (We added sprinkles on SC's cake because I'm decoratively challenged)

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