Wet Chocolate Cake and Minute-Boil Fudge Frosting

At 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning I baked a chocolate cake (don't ask) and it wasn't until it was in the oven that I realized, egads, it's vegan! No butter, no milk no eggs! But fear not gentle readers, for Wet Chocolate Cake is a dark, moist delicious beauty that could not be simpler to prepare.

I served it to two people dear to me: My new SIL, who said, as he wolfed down his second slice, "It tastes like regular chocolate cake!" And my friend Jordana, who also enjoyed two slices (and didn't share even a bite with Arno, her sweet and adorable 16-month-old son).

Having failed miserably last Thanksgiving preparing a vegan pumpkin custard dessert for my BIL, I was loathe to try another vegan recipe. I didn't give it a second thought, however, because most vintage recipes are decidedly not vegan. However, this is from a collection I recently received from Arthur Schwartz, who apparently had an on-air discussion about eggless cakes. Which resulted in devoted listeners sending in dozens of such recipes -- this is by far the best of them.

Geometric cake art.

Start by sifting the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Mix the liquid ingredients together, pour into the the dry ingredients and blend for about one minute.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

When slightly cool, run a butter knife along the edge and turn out. As you can see below, some of the cake remained in the pan. I just patched it up, flipped the cake over, frosted it and no one was the wiser.

Frosted cake.

Production notes: I followed this recipe exactly as written.

Now, for the frosting, which is decidedly non-vegan, and from a fantastic new recipe collection I just got from eBay. Measure (or weigh) two ounces of unsweetened chocolate. (Or use two squares of Baker's unsweetened chocolate.)

Chop and combine with the sugar and other ingredients.

Stir until it comes to a rolling boil and let it rip for one minute. Let cool, add vanilla and beat.

Production notes: I followed this exactly, except I used butter for the Spry and Oleo (6 T in total). Pet milk is any brand of evaporated milk. If you prefer to keep your cake vegan, just top it with a dusting of confectioner's sugar. If you prefer an easier frosting (one that requires only beating, and not cooking and beating, you can use this frosting from the Magnolia Bakery.)