Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Today would have been my grandmother’s 81st birthday. In honor of her I made a cake from her recipe box – Busy Day Chocolate Cake. My brother always requested this cake for his birthday.

Busy Day Chocolate Cake, as the name suggests, is a chocolate cake that can be made on a busy day. It only takes 5 minutes to make the batter and 30 minutes in the oven. The longest process is letting the cake cool before frosting it.

Busia must’ve been helping me recreate her recipe because for the first time ever my cake came out of the pan cleanly and easily.

Busy Day Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 1/3 C flour
• 1 C sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 C vegetable shortening
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1 egg

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt chocolate: microwave 30 seconds, stir, microwave another 30 seconds or until melted.
3. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
4. Cut in vegetable shortening, and mix in buttermilk and egg. (I literally used a knife to mix in the shortening.) Add melted chocolate until combined.
5. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9″ round cake pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until a knife/toothpick slides through cleanly.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp salted butter
• 4 tbsp cream cheese
• 3 C powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• milk, if needed

Steps:

1. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Add 1 C powdered sugar. Mix until combined. Add in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Mix until combined. Repeat until all ingredients are used.
3. If needed, add a little bit of milk and/or more sugar.
4. Frost cake and enjoy!