Grandma's Chocolate Cake

"Everyone has a price--mine is chocolate."

I call this Grandma's Chocolate Cake because it's a recipe that my mom always baked when I was a child. When she became a Grandmother, we all lovingly referred to her as, "Gramma." Mom would make the chocolate layers and fill and frost them with either 7-Minute Frosting (My favorite), Whipped Cream (Dad's favorite), or a Chocolate Buttercream. I've baked this cake many times for my cafe' customers, and they loved the chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache frosting. The photo here shows the cake decorated with chocolate transfer sheets.

Cake:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

3/4 cup cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten in separate bowl

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 cup whole milk, not low fat

1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spray two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray; line the bottoms with parchment paper; spray the parchment lightly.

In a large bowl of stand mixer, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix on low speed. Add the eggs oil, extracts, and milk; mix until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat for two minutes. Reduce speed to low again, and add boiling water, mixing until blended. The batter will be thin...a soupy consistency.

Pour the batter into the two cake pans; place into oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until skewer inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove pans from oven and let cool on racks for ten minutes; then turn the cakes out onto the racks to finish cooling. Place the completely cooled cakes into the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes (unless wrapping for future use) before frosting.

Fill and frost as desired.

Serves 10-12