CHOCOLATE GARBAGE CAKE

Birthday cake of choice around here.

2 c. buttermilk or sour milk (milk plus 2T vinegar)

1 c. cocoa

2 ¾ c. flour

2 t. soda

½ t. salt

½ t. bkg. Pdr.

1 c. butter 

2 ½ c. sugar

4 eggs

1 ½ vanilla

Combine cocoa, flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla about 3 minutes.

Add dry mixture, alternating with buttermilk

Beat an additional 2 minutes.

Bake 350 degrees for 35 minutes in rectangular pan, or 25-30 minutes in round pans.

Yum.

The Divine Origins of Garbage Cake 

(or How Garbage Cake got its name)

When our son John and his friend Jason  were 12 or 13 years old they started taking charge of their world. They were usually in the back yard playing ball, or in the basement recording videos with Sterling and the rest of the gang.  That was the year that John and Jase also went through a cooking stage.  They mastered crepes, brownies, and made-from-scratch chocolate cake. One night Dave and I went on a date, leaving John and Jase in charge of the kids.  They were in the process of whipping up a chocolate cake as we left.  When we finished our date we came home, anticipating a piece of yummy cake for dessert, but when we walked in the house there were no kids in sight.  There was also no cake in sight.  

I found the boys in the back yard playing ball, and the girls were jumping on the trampoline.  

“Hey, where’s the cake?” I called from the back deck?  Jase turned, flung the ball out to Johnny back by the creek, and answered; “Oh, we forgot about it and it burnt.”  

“So did you eat it anyway? ” I asked.  

“Nah, we threw it away.”

At that moment I turned back into the house, shutting the door behind me.  Over by the fridge I found Dave leaning over the garbage which was situated by the side of the fridge.  A cereal box had been tossed on the top of the garbage, and on top of that box was the overcooked chocolate cake.  Dave was leaning over the garbage eating the cake.

“Not bad,” he mumbled, his cheeks filled with chocolate.

This is a cake good enough to eat out of the garbage.