Chocolate Layer Cake

Here's a tried and true recipe for chocolate cake...adapted from one I found in the Mennonite Treasury cookbook many decades ago. It became a favorite of my hubby's...and is still served every year on or around September 11th (his birthday).  Quick, simple and moist!

Quick Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup Kraft Miracle Whip salad dressing
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Fry's cocoa

1. Blend Miracle Whip and sugar. 
2. Stir together dry ingredients and add alternately with water. 
3. Pour into 2-nine inch round layer pans...greased and/or lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
5. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pans.  
6. Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting when cool.

I was thinking of keeping our favorite frosting recipe a secret...since it seems to have fallen out of favour over the decades.  But I'll share it with you...and you can decide for yourself.  Since this recipe contains raw egg, it is not recommended for those who are pregnant or who have a compromised immune system. If you have any concerns, use pasteurized eggs. It is a fluffy, not-so-sweet icing that goes down as smooth as silk!

French Silk Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (not icing sugar)
• 6 tablespoons Fry's cocoa
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 2 eggs (pasteurized eggs are an option)

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. 
2. Add cocoa and vanilla; beat. 
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating for about 5 minutes after each addition. 
4. Chill before spreading. 

I'm not a huge chocolate fan myself, but add French silk frosting to this moist chocolate cake and I quite enjoy a nice slab!   However you wish to frost it...give the cake a try. 

Zippy Party Dip

Quick and easy...and delicious!

 

 Zippy Party Dip

• 1 cup / 250 ml cream cheese
• 1 cup / 250 ml sour cream
• 1/2 cup / 125 ml hot salsa
• 1 tsp /5 ml chili powder
• 1 1/2 - 3 cups /400-750 ml shredded Tex-Mex cheese

1. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and salsa together well.
2. Spread in bottom of casserole or any nice ovenproof baking pan.
3. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon chili powder.
4. Spread grated cheese over to cover.  (Use more or less depending on the size of your pan).
5. Bake in 350°F / 175°C oven for 25 minutes, or until heated and bubbly.
6. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers or raw veggies.

*I have on occasion made the dip in small ramekins for individual sized servings...as pictured above. 

Pulled Pork with Root Beer BBQ Sauce

I had pulled pork cooked this way at my daughter's not long ago.  It is simple and tasty...hard to go wrong!  This is not so much a recipe...as a method.  Use any size pork loin roast...and the barbecue sauce of your choice.

• 2-3 pound pork loin roast
• 1 can root beer
• 1 bottle barbecue sauce

1. Place pork roast in slow cooker.
2. Pour can of root beer over the meat.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours.
4. Drain juices.
5. Shred pork and return to slow cooker.
6. Stir in heated barbecue sauce and keep warm in slow cooker until ready to serve.

It doesn't get any easier than that!  One can add sliced onions when cooking the pork...or make the barbecue sauce from scratch...or serve on homemade buns to make it even better...but it's good as is...plain and simple.