Cake That Won't Make It to the Church Dinner

This past Sunday was our Pastor's Anniversary of 19 years of service to the Lord at our church.  I was intending to bring a dessert that is a crowd pleasing favorite, but as usual my crowd at home got to it first.  The cake is called Mexican Chocolate Cake and my Aunt Treva gave us the recipe years ago.  It is great for church dinners or other large groups because it bakes in a flat "cookie" sheet (mine is 12x17x1) so when serving a big crowd it makes at least 24 servings (20-3x3 pieces and 4-2x3).

When I was in college, a small Italian restaurant had a very similar cake that they sold for $2 per piece and they called it Texas cake.  It wasn't as good as my aunt's recipe, but it would help satisfy the craving (especially since this is not a cake to be baked and left sitting in an apartment with 1 or 2 people to be tempted to eat it all). 

Mexican Chocolate Cake

1 stick butter

1/2 C. vegetable oil

2 squares unsweetned chocolate OR 4 T cocoa

1 C. water

2 C. flour

1 t. baking soda

2 C. sugar

1/2 C. sour milk* 

2 eggs

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

*Add 1 1/2 t. vinegar to "sour" the milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine butter, oil, chocolate, and water in a sauce pan.  Heat on medium low until fairly smooth.  Remove from heat.

Combine flour, baking soda, sugar, milk, eggs,  and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add the first mixture and stir.  Put the mixture in a cookie sheet (no oil, spray, etc) and bake until done (about 35 minutes in my oven).  Test doneness with a tooth pick.  Let cool for about 20-30 minutes and add the icing while the cake is still warm. 

Icing

1 stick butter

4 T. cocoa

6 T. milk

1 pound powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped nuts such as pecans (optional)

Combine butter, chocolate and milk in a saucepan and stir over medium low heat until smooth.  Remove from hear and stir in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Ice the cake while the cake is still warm.  After it cools, garnish with pecans or other nut, if desired. 

AND last but not least, find a safe hiding spot for the cake until you're ready to serve it.