The Easiest Chocolate Cake You'll Ever Bake

It was inevitable. When Friday night would come around, after a long, hard work week (baking business and homeschooling), all I could think about was how I was going to relax that weekend. But so often I would be called on a Friday night by someone ordering a birthday cake for Saturday. And not just a small one, of course. They would need a cake to feed half the county! What to do for these procrastinators?

I would often turn to this cake recipe, given to me by my dear friend who used to cook in a Boston bakery kitchen back in the early 80s. One reason I love this recipe is that it can be multiplied many, many times (for extremely large cakes, or for lots of sheet cakes) and the cake will come out just as moist as it does when you make a single recipe. Another reason to love it? It's absolutely egg-free! No beating eggs, or getting shell fragments in your batter. You only need one mixing bowl, which makes cleanup a lot easier. And if you need a lower-fat version of this delicious cake, you can substitute unsweetened applesauce for 1/3 of the butter. When you make this substitution, the added pectin from the apples also helps the cake to hold it's shape, so this is a good idea if you are using molds for kids' specialty cakes, or if you just want to be sure the cake doesn't fall apart after you take it out of the pan. What's not to love?

(Something else to try: This cake recipe works extremely well with carob powder instead of cocoa, for those who can't or who don't want to eat chocolate.)

This recipe will make 2 8-inch layers, or 24 cupcakes. Multiply the recipe as your heart desires! And for a chocolate-lover's dream come true, frost the cooled cake with Fudgy Chocolate Icing.

Easy Chocolate Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa (or try carob powder)
2 Tbsp plain yogurt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cold water
2 sticks (1 cup) melted butter (don't use margarine!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except melted butter. Using electric mixer, mix until there are no lumps. When smooth, add the melted butter and beat thoroughly until the butter no longer separates.

Pour into greased and floured cake pans, and bake until the cake tests done in the center, and it starts to pull away from the edges of the pan. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan, and cool thoroughly on wire cooling rack. When completely cooled, frost as desired.

Fudgy Chocolate Icing
(makes 2 cups)

1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
6 Tbsp butter (use the real stuff for best taste)
4 Tbsp milk or water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine cocoa with sugar in mixing bowl. In a small bowl, cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the cocoa mixture. Add remaining cocoa mixture alternately with milk, beating to a spreading consistency. (1 Tbsp light corn syrup can also be added to make the frosting glossy.)