I love chocolate cake. If there were no repercussions I would eat chocolate cake every day. I love it with chocolate frosting, vanilla buttercream, Ciddy Ellifson* frosting, Seven Minute Icing and yesterday for my birthday, mint chocolate chip frosting. Why had I never thought about mint frosting for this wonderful cake? Can I have a piece for breakfast? Apparently ladies my age cannot have chocolate cake for breakfast (and still fit into their jeans). When I am an old woman and wearing a muumuu, I will have chocolate cake for breakfast. I better have a smoothie before I cave!

Anyway, this is an old recipe that exists in various forms in our grandmother’s and mother’s cookbooks. The batter is thin, but it raises up perfectly into a dark, rich, moist cake. Seriously, cake! Stop staring at me! Chocolate cakes from scratch turn out so good. I don’t know why white and yellow cakes are so tricky.

Black Magic Cake

1 3/4 cup flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong black coffee, cold
1 cup sour non-dairy milk
1/2 cup oil, olive or coconut
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, baking powder and salt together. Add eggs, coffee, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured 9×13 or two 8 or 9 inch round pans. Bake at 350* 35-40 minutes for the 9×13 or 8″, 30-35 for 9 inch pans. Check center with toothpick or cake tester. Cool in pans for 15 minutes and then turn out to cool completely on wire racks.

Next post will be some of my favorite frostings!

*This frosting recipe comes from my mama, who used people’s names for recipe titles. This frosting is used for red velvet cake and is sometimes called Velvet Icing. It’s my favorite for chocolate cake. For years I requested Black Magic Cake with Ciddy Ellifson Frosting