Wicky Wacky Chocolate Cake

Who could resist a cake with this name?  Not me.

And so, one morning before work last week, I whipped this up.  The most difficult part was deciphering the faded and smudged script on the handwritten recipe.

I think the "wacky" part of the name comes from the unusual method, which involves melting the shortening, cocoa and water before mixing it with the dry ingredients.  This cake couldn't be easier to make (I still got to work on time that morning) and it was delicious.

The original scanned recipe is below, and below that is my interpretation.

Wicky Wacky Chocolate Cake

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
2 tbs. cocoa powder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix sugar and flour.  Heat butter, cocoa and water in a sauce pan until boiling point.   Pour hot mixture into dry ingredients and add the buttermilk (into which you've mixed the baking soda), egg and vanilla.  Mix well and pour batter into a greased and floured 8 inch square pan.  Bake about 20 minutes until a toothpick poked in the center of cake comes out clean.

Wicky Wacky Frosting

1/2 stick butter
2 tbs. cocoa powder
3 tbs. milk
1/2 pound confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)


Put butter, cocoa and milk into a pan.  Heat until it begins to boil. Remove and add sugar and vanilla.  Mix in coconut.  Pour over hot cake and then sprinkle with nuts. Enjoy!