Helen's Heavenly Cake... And it is!

Helen’s Heavenly Cake

This is a basic chocolate cake recipe that lends itself to these two variations of icing, among others.

Cake Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter or margarine 175 mL
• 2 cups sugar 500 mL
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla 5 mL
• 2 ½ cups flour 625 mL
• ½ cup cocoa 125 mL
• 2 tsp. baking soda 10 mL
• ½ tsp. salt 2 mL
• 2 cups buttermilk or sour milk* 500 mL

Directions

1.  To prepare the cake, in a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
3. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, making three dry and two liquid additions, starting and ending with the flour.  Mix just until blended.
4. Spread batter in well-greased baking pans, either a 9 x 13” (23 x 33 cm) pan or, two 8” (20 cm) round pans.
5. Bake in a 350°F oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.  Let the cake cool in the pan for five minutes before turning out on a rack to cool.

*for sour milk, add 2 tbsp. (30 mL) lemon juice or vinegar to 1 7/8 cups (460 mL) milk.

Jeanne’s Quick Icing

Ingredients

•  3 ¾ oz pkg. instant chocolate pudding 113 gm
• 1 cup whipping cream 250 mL

Directions

1. Prepare the pudding according to the package direction.
2. Whip the cream until stiff.
3. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding mix and spread over the cooled cake.

Jeanne’s Bakery Icing

Ingredients

• ¼ cup flour 60 mL
• 1 cup milk 250 mL
• 1 cup shortening 250 mL
• 1 cup icing sugar 250 mL
• ¼ tsp. salt 1 mL
• 1 tsp. vanilla 10 mL

Directions

1. Blend the flour with ¼ cup of milk in a small saucepan.  Gradually add the remaining milk, stirring to avoid lumps.  It helps to use a whisk.  If, at this point, you do have some lumps, strain them out of your mixture. Cook and stir constantly, over medium-heat, until thick. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, salt and vanilla.
3. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture 1 tbsp. at a time, beating constantly.
4. Spread over the cake.

*For chocolate icing, melt 1 cup (250 mL) of chocolate chips, let cool slightly and add after step 3. 

From the best-selling Blueberries & Polar Bears Cookbook Series