Grandma's Chocolate Cake

This cake will forever remind me of my grandma. Growing up a few miles down the road from her, we were almost guaranteed that there would be a nice thick slice of homemade chocolate cake waiting for us whenever we went to visit. It was the perfect afternoon snack for a bunch of chattering kids sitting around the table with milk in one hand and a fork in the other.

Her recipe is simple and delicious. It contains buttermilk and shortening, two things you don't always find in your typical cake, but the results are very tasty. Yes, you can whip up a chocolate cake from a box in less time than from scratch, but sometimes it just tasted better to make it yourself. My grandma always baked this cake in a 9 x 13 pan; I'm sure it would be fine as cupcakes or round cakes or a bundt cake, but I can't imagine it any other way.

I like to make my own frosting, but the canned Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines stuff would also be fine for this cake.

Grandma's Chocolate Cake
Recipe from Grandma K
Picture by Caroline

Cake
1 3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, shortening and eggs. Beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and buttermilk.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Add to sugar mixture and stir.
4. Add cocoa and boiling water at the same time, mixing until well blended.
5. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool before frosting.

*I never have buttermilk on hand. Instead, I use regular milk and replace between 1 and 2 tablespoons of milk with vinegar or lemon juice to "sour" the milk.

Fudge Frosting
from betttycrocker.com

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
2/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. In 2 1/2-quart saucepan, mix all frosting ingredients except vanilla. Heat to rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute without stirring.
2. Place saucepan in bowl of ice and water. Beat until frosting is smooth and spreadable; stir in vanilla. Frost rectangle or fill and frost layers with frosting.