BIRTHDAY BANNERS, BALLOONS...

and blow-outs.

You know, as in candles on a birthday cake!

What a big day today - birthday wishes from all over the country for Ms. Laura. At first she was oh-so-slightly upset with me. You see, she prefers that no one knows when her birthday is. She actually told me that she would prefer the day come and go without any mention.

Then of course, I pointed out that HAVING a birthday sure as shootin' beats the alternative!

You know, as in NOT HAVING a birthday!

And then we had cake. And doesn't cake just always make everything better!

And while this recipe was handed to me on my 15th wedding anniversary, by my mother-in-law, with the pinkie promise never to reveal it to a living soul until it is my daughter's turn - I decided this morning WHAT THE HELL! And I don't use that word very often...so I must have really meant it!

So after 7 email requests, 1 blog comment AND a notation on an internet order today...

ESSIE'S DOUBLE CHOCOLATE TEXAS SHEET CAKE

2 C flour
2 C sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 sticks margerine
1 C. water
3 T. cocoa powder
1 t. cinnamon
2 eggs, well beaten
1 t. baking soda
1/2 C. buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, look in your cookbook for making buttermilk with milk and vinegar)
1 t. vanilla

Measure and combine flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a saucepan, mix margerine, water and cocoa. Bring to a boil and pour over flour and sugar mixture. Add cinnamon. In another bowl, put eggs, soda, buttermilk and vanilla. Add to above mixture and mix well.

Bake as follows @ 350°:
3 8" layers - 20 minutes, or until just set in middle
2 9" layers - 20 minutes, or until just set in middle
10x15 sheet cake pan - 25-30 minutes, or until just set in middle
jelly roll pan - 20-30 minutes, watch closely, until set in middle

For round pans, cool slightly and then remove to frost.

FROSTING
3 T. butter
1 T. milk
2 T. hot coffee
3 T. cocoa powder
2 C. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt

Combine with mixer, softened butter, milk and hot coffee. Add cocoa and mix well. Add powdered sugar and stir by hand, until ingredients are well blended. Then beat very hard! Add vanilla and salt. If the frosting is a bit too thick, add additional coffee 1 T. at a time to make it spreading consistency.

Now - if my mother-in-law finds out that I've posted this...I'm going to claim temporary insanity and blame all of you. I don't handle peer pressure very well.

This really is a lovely cake. It is also a very rich cake...so when I serve it I slice the round cake into SIXTEEN equal pieces. Great for crowds!

The only problem with this cake is transporting it. This pure-sin-in-a-pan makes any car smell heavenly. So much so, that when I had to stop at my third traffic light this morning, I couldn't resist. I had to just sample just a teensie-weensie corner. I mean really, it was the smart thing to do. I couldn't serve cake to my co-workers not knowing if it tasted perfect. Could I?

So this is how the cake looked when I arrived and set it out at the warehouse...

I don't think anyone noticed. If so, they didn't say anything.

Heck, their mouths were full of cake - who could speak?

So let them bake cake I say! But it's a secret where you got the recipe. And if you're ever at a church pot-luck in the midwest, and a prim and proper woman pauses after taking a small nibble of your cake...reflecting on how similar it tastes to her own...run like the wind. OKAY?

Behave yourselves!