Do you wanna bake a cake?

It's not often that I share recipes here, but today I found a new chocolate cake recipe that was easy and delicious that I just had to share.  After having nearly 3 ft of snow dropped on the Mid-Atlantic by Winter Storm Jonas, I found myself looking for things to entertain the kids while we waited for things to return to normal with work and school.  We had a snowball fight, built an Olaf, and watched more than our fair share of movies, Disney Jr., and Paw Patrol.  By day four, we were running low on ideas when I spotted a link on Facebook to a cake recipe.

Back before I had two under 4 that kept me hopping around the house, I spent a lot of time baking and even took cake decorating classes.  Even though I don't have as much time to bake anymore, I enjoy doing it when I find the time and sharing the fun with Brody! He loves to be "mommy's helper" in the kitchen, but I think he enjoys tasting his creations even better.

My new favorite chocolate cake recipe can be found by clicking here.  After all is said in done, there are several things I enjoy about this recipe.  The first is that it is egg free, milk free, and butter free.  Since everything are dry ingredients that can typically be found in my pantry, I don't have to worry about having what I need on hand.  I also liked that when mixing the ingredients, the recipe said to make two smaller inserts in the flour mixture followed by one larger.  Of course, I made mine look like a Mickey Mouse!  While the cake was baking, I made up a batch of the Wilton icing that I learned when I took my cake decorating classes.  You simply mix 1 cup of shortening with 1/2 tsp of vanilla flavoring and 1/2 tsp of butter flavoring.  Then add about 4 tbsp of water before gradually mixing in 4 cups of powdered sugar.  Once all of the sugar has been mixed in, add water as necessary to thin to a consistency that is ideal for spreading.  In this instance, I wanted chocolate icing so I mixed in a few tablespoons of cocoa powder after everything else was done.

So, the verdict?  Everyone agrees that it was delicious!  The cake is moist and the recipe makes a perfect size 8 x 8 cake.  Brody is already asking when we can bake again.  Maybe another epic nor'easter will blow through the Mid-Atlantic and give us more snow days at home together??