It's My Birthday, And I'll Eat If I Want To

Yesterday was my birthday -- a Friday the 13th birthday, my luckiest day.  I was born on a Friday the 13th.  My next Friday the 13th birthday won't be until 2020.  To celebrate my special day, I made myself a cake.  A whole big cake just for me (okay, I shared with the husband).

It isn't fancy.  In fact, I even used a mix!  I tried to make a pudding poke cake, which sounded kind of fun, but my pudding was a little too set up, so it didn't flow into the holes.  So instead, it's a chocolate cake with pudding filling and whipped cream.  I expect we'll wind up throwing some of this away, but that's okay.  I'm worth a cake on my special day!

What's Wacky About This Cake?

We grow up with so many foods, it's impossible to remember the first time we ate them.  Meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes -- who can remember the first time?  Foods we first try in adulthood are different.  We can often remember the exact circumstances when we ate something new.

Oddly enough, wacky cake is one such food for me.  Even though it has been around since probably the 1930s, wacky cake first came into my life when I was pregnant with our first child.  We had gone to visit my in-laws in Ohio.  I think it was probably a Saturday night, and I wanted chocolate cake.  The husband and I were watching a little TV in the family room, and I mentioned that I had a real craving for chocolate cake.  (Maybe I mentioned it more than once; I can be kind of needy when chocolate is involved.)

Join me on the porch for wacky cake topped with whipped cream.

My wonderful mother-in-law never said a word, but she got busy in the kitchen and in no time at all, she brought me a square of delicious homemade chocolate cake, still warm and topped with melting chocolate icing.  Can you imagine a better mother-in-law than that?  She made me feel special and loved; how could I forget that day?  Wacky cake has been kind of near to my heart ever since.  True, it's not fancy or impressive, after all, it was developed in the Depression as an inexpensive cake that didn't require eggs, but as my mother-in-law said, you always have the ingredients on hand.  I've made this cake many times over the years, sometimes with icing or sometimes topped simply with ice cream or whipped cream.  I enjoyed it as a first-time pregnant woman, and I still enjoy it today.

The lady who introduced me to wacky cake
and the child who caused the craving.

Wacky Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

6 tablespoons margarine, melted

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease an 8-inch square pan.

In large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa and baking soda.  Make 3 wells in flour mixture.  Put vanilla in first well, vinegar in the second, and melted margarine in the third.  Pour water over mixture.  Mix well with fork.

Pour into greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, or allow to cool and frost with chocolate icing.

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Frosting: The Tunic Top of the Cake World

A tunic top may not be the height of fashionable clothing, but it can serve as camouflage for figure flaws.  Baked goods, unfortunately, don't have the luxury of clothing to hide their flaws.  That's what frosting is for!

Chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting is a popular birthday cake choice at our house.  Our son chose it this year to celebrate leaving his teenage years behind.  Wouldn't you know it, for the first time, the cake stuck to the pan.  It was not a full-blown disaster stuck to the pan, but both layers stuck on the sides a little bit.

My son, bless him, said it didn't matter.  He was right, of course.  I just made extra frosting and filled the damage with whipped cream.  Works for me!

The recipe comes from the May 2005 issue of Country Living magazine.  The issue featured cakes from a reader recipe contest.  I have changed the recipe only slightly.  This moist and delicious cake is not overly sweet, and the whipped cream frosting means you can omit ice cream and not miss it at all.  The recipe for another of our favorite birthday cakes, Praline Turtle Cake, comes from the same issue of Country Living.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake

Adapted from Country Living May 2005

Cake:

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar

12 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar

1/4 plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.  Line bottoms with parchment paper.  Grease the paper as well and dust with flour.  Set pan of water or kettle on to boil.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in large bowl.  Whisk in sugar.  Beat in oil, milk, eggs and vanilla using a mixer set on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add 1 cup boiling water.  Batter will be very thin.

Pour batter into pans and tap to remove air bubbles.  Bake until pick inserted in each cake comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes.  Cool pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely.

Frosting:

Beat cream and confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form.  Gently fold in granulated sugar and cocoa (add cocoa through sieve to prevent clumps).  Mix gently until combined.

Place about 1/3 of the frosting and ½ of the mini chocolate chips between the layers.  Frost top and sides of cake and decorate the top with the remaining mini chips.  Store in the refrigerator.

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