Scratch me....

Cake that is. Well, not scratch the cake, but rather cake from scratch. I love to bake. I bake pies for the hubby a lot. I bake cookies. I bake cakes---from a box. I thought I would try making a cake from scratch as I had never done it before. My oldest (the Hermit Crab) bought me a cookbook for Christmas "9x13-the Pan that Can" by Better Homes and Gardens. I thinking to myself, "I have cooked for over 20 years, how hard can a cake be?" It wasn't hard, but it was very different from the box, 2 eggs, some oil and maybe water.


Here is the recipe from the above-mentioned cookbook. I adapted it slightly.

Marble Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt\
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
3 eggs
1-1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
1 recipe Chocolate Butter frosting
2-1.4 ounce Heath bars, chopped (optional-I didn't have any in the pantry)

Grease a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for a metal pan and 325 degrees F for a glass pan. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition, just until combined. Transfer 3/4 cup of cake batter to small bowl. Stir in chocolate syrup. Spread light colored batter into prepared baking dish. Spoon chocolate batter over light batter. Using butter knife, swirl chocolate through batter to marble.



Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in middle of cake. Cool completely. Make frosting while cake cools. In a large bowl, combine 6 TBSP butter and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; beat with an electric mixer on medium until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until well mixed. Slowly beat in 1/4 cup milk and 1-1/2 tsp vanilla. Slowly beat in 2 more cups of powdered sugar. If necessary, beat in enough additional milk, 1 tsp at a time, to make spreading easier. Sprinkle with chopped Heath bars if you choose to. Who doesn't like Heath bars? I do, but didn't have any and didn't feel like driving to town at 2 AM, so I left them off.


I thought the frosting was way too sweet. It hardens a little bit also after it sits a little while. I cut down the amounts a little here for the ratios. I brought it to work and they all loved it, so maybe I am just too used to the stuff in the plastic can! They all said they would eat it again, but I think that Lemon Meringue pie is on the agenda for this week!