chocolate cake

I used to think that baking cakes from scratch was a very scary thing. However, like any skill, practice makes perfect, and once I got over my fear of cakes, I learned they're actually quite simple to make!

There's an easy three-part technique that applies to most cakes. You start by blending sugar with butter, then you add eggs, and finally some liquid and some flour. You put it in the oven, wait, and then you have a cake. See? When written in its most basic form, a cake recipe is totally uncomplicated!

This recipe for an amazingly dense and delicious chocolate cake is one that you should master. It's moist, rich, and everything you could want in a chocolate cake. To give it a try, get the method now.

This chocolate frosting family recipe, written by TJTalks, was uploaded and shared in the Kitchen Goddess group in the YumSugar Community. Can you say, chocolate coma?

This recipe is from my mother's sister-in-law, aunt Henrietta. My mom wrote it down on a 3x5 recipe card at one of my bridal showers 28 years ago.

For the recipe, keep reading.

When I was little, one of my favorite dishes was my dad's firehouse birthday cake. He was a fire chief, and like most firefighters, a great cook. His dessert specialty was a boxed chocolate cake that he jazzed up with a whipped cream cheese frosting and syrupy cherry topping; it was called firehouse birthday cake. Since he retired, I haven't had firehouse birthday cake, so with the original recipe in hand, I recently set out to bake an updated version of the dessert. Instead of a boxed mix, I made a devil's food chocolate cake from scratch and I replaced the canned cherries with fresh bing cherries. The resulting cake has all the delicious flavors I remember, but with a more sophisticated appearance. It's a rich and wonderful pairing of chocolate and cherries, cut with smooth, fluffy, thick cream. If you've got a birthday coming up, I highly recommend this cake. Here's the recipe.

I'm pretty traditional when it comes to birthdays and I can't remember celebrating one without a special cake. It may come as a shock, but every year, I make my own birthday cake. Researching cake recipes and going through the process of baking one has become a ritual that I look forward to and enjoy — as much as the senselessly extravagant birthday party. For 28, I've decided on a chocolate truffle cake with ganache topping and rum syrup. Instead of serving regular vanilla ice cream, I'm upping the ante and pairing the cake with a tropical sorbet terrine. It has three (coconut, raspberry, and mango) layers of sorbet that I think will perfectly complement the richness of the cake. To look at these scrumptious dessert recipes, read more