The Cake.

Confession: I don't make a lot of food from home. I rarely pull out my mom's recipes, and partly this is because we have wildly different tastes, but also because American ingredients (and recipes) often don't mesh well with how I eat here, in Australia. For one, I'd never even heard of Ro-Tel before Pinterest. (Tip: use a few slices of hot chili in tinned tomatoes; it's the same thing.) For another, well...I just don't love the same food I grew up eating. I tend to fill up on all the food I miss when I fly over and visit, and it's invariably stuff I'm rather glad I can't get every day: french fries with ranch dressing, onion rings, biscuits and gravy, Dr Pepper, enormous burritos, PayDay candy bars. I feel like an anomoly for preferring my own cooking to my parents', but there it is. I'm not picky, but I know what I like, and I know how to cook it.

There is one notable exception to this, though. That is The Cake.

Sometimes I find myself craving The Cake. It was her mother's recipe, and her aunt's icing (frosting) recipe. It's fudgy and dark and sweet and moist. The icing is pure nirvana. My mother altered it (though she never revealed how), and she's given me permission to post the recipe here. When I bake The Cake, I feel connected to my mother, and her mother before her, and I imagine my grandmother and her sister cooking side by side into their sixties, only a five minute drive away, in and out of each others' pockets forever. Cooking with my sisters is great. (They take orders! They're so QUICK! They're EFFICIENT! I love you guys.) It's something I miss. So this cake links me. And I put Piper up on the benchtop and let her have a wee teaspoon of icing, because there is nothing better than licking the spoon (even if it's a teeny tiny spoon).

It's not beautiful, like so many cookies and cakes I make. It's homely and lumpy and something you find at a friend's house, not something you see in a shop window. There's no way to smooth the rough icing or make it uniform without taking something important away from the experience. But who cares what it looks like? It tastes fantastic.

Without further ado, the recipe.

Grandma Pearl's Sheet Cake

Grease and set aside either a rectangular cake pan or two smallish round cake tins. Preheat oven to 200ºC.

In a medium saucepan, combine:

• 225g of butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk (or 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tsp white vinegar)
• 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Let this come to a boil; meanwhile in a bowl combine:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp bicarb (baking soda)

In a ramekin or small bowl mix:

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, beaten

Pour the hot saucepan mix over the sugar and flour, then stir; afterward a moment, add in the eggs and vanilla mix. Combine well and pour into cake tin(s). Bake for 15-25 minutes, checking frequently. Let it cool completely before icing.

Aunt Erelene's Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing

• 3ish cups icing sugar
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1x 250g packet of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I honestly just eyeball this step and chuck a wodge into the Kitchen-Aid)
• milk to thin if needed (I've never used this step, but my mom says to add 1 tbsp at a time)

Mix it all in the a stand mixer if you have one. It'll seem quite stiff but if you leave it, it doubles and thickens and gets all fabulous. I usually do the washing up while the icing is mixing. Either a whisk or a paddle attachment are fine!

This is enough to generously ice a two-layer cake with a thin middle layer, or to over-ice a whole sheet cake. Just try not to lick the spoon. I dare you.

I do love this cake. Let me know if you make it and how it turns out! :)

Cheers

Penny x