Chocolate Tuesday

Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Chip Icing

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake:

(recipe from the Hershey's Cocoa Tin)

2 C sugar

1 3/4 C all purpose flour

3/4 C Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 C milk

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 C boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.  Grease and flour two 9" round pans or one 9"x13" pan.  In large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients (sift lumps out of the cocoa).  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Remove from mixer, add boiling water and stir.  (Batter will be very runny!)  Pour into pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes for 9" round pans, or for 35-40 minutes for 9"x13" pan.  Cake is done when toothpick placed in center comes out clean.

Cool, well at least as long as it takes to make the frosting.

Boiled frosting with Chocolate Chips:

(Recipe from Aunt Ginny)

(7 minute frosting - works really well for impatient cooks because it is possible to frost a still warm cake with this frosting!

There is a slight caramel undertone to the frosting, probably from the brown sugar)

1 egg white

1 C brown sugar

3 Tbs. water

1 dash salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips (added at the very end)

(I use Ghiradelli double bittersweet chips, but pretty much any good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips will work well.)

Directions:

Put all the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in the top of a double boiler over water at a high simmer.  Using a hand-held mixer beat the ingredients continuously until egg white forms stiff peaks and starts becoming warm and sticky.  (The mixers with the thin wire whisks don't work very well.  Instead use one of the cheap hand held mixers with the thick blades that would stop dead and start smoking if you used it on a thick brownie batter.)  Remove the top of the double boiler from the heat, dump in the chocolate chips, let them sit for 5-10 seconds, then give the frosting another quick stir with the mixer. This will give you a nice swirl effect with the chocolate in the frosting.  Frost the cake, and serve.  Refrigerate any uneaten portions.