This is a chocolate cake recipe and buttercream frosting recipe that I have been using for my entire life. It was a recipe given to me by my mother. Don’t mistake what I am saying, there really isn’t anything special about the recipe. In fact, you could likely find something identical to it somewhere in a search. However, I find it to be special because it was used for all of the cakes my mom made for my brothers and me growing up. It is now what I use to make my children’s birthday cakes. Each year, my husband and I work together to make a homemade cake for my children. It was a tradition for me as a child that I brought into my kid’s lives. You can read about that story here.
There is nothing out of the ordinary in the ingredients list for this chocolate cake. It is just a basic recipe that tastes just the way I think chocolate cake should taste. Use a toothpick to be sure that it is done in the center. I find that while it calls for it to be baked for 30 minutes, I typically have to bake it a little longer. Just keep an eye on it so that you don’t pull out a cake that is underdone or overdone.
You can go here to see how I grease my pan to make absolute certain that it does not stick. There is nothing more disappointing than to spend all of time it takes to bake a cake and then have it stick to the pan when you dump it out. That doesn’t make for very good decorating surfaces.
Without further ado, here is the chocolate cake recipe and buttercream frosting recipe.
Chocolate Cake Recipe
Makes 2 9 inch pans or 1 13 inch pan
Cream in a large bowl:
¾ cup butter
1 ¾ cup sugar
Beat 1 egg at a time into the creamed butter and sugar and set bowl aside:
2 eggs
Mix together remaining wet ingredients in a separate bowl:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ⅓ cup milk
Mix together remaining dry ingredients in another separate bowl
2 cup flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Beat in ⅓ of the wet ingredients to the creamed butter, sugar, egg mixture.
Then add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the mixture and beat until combined.
Alternate wet and dry ingredients until all of them are mixed into the batter.
Bake cakes in 2 greased 9 inch pans or 1 greased 13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
Butter Cream Frosting Recipe
2 sticks of butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix using an electric mixer. Add more liquid or powdered sugar in small amounts until you reach the desired consistency.
