Why I chose this recipe:
This is where it all began for me.
Whenever my brother and I would go over to my grandparents’ house, my grandmother would be baking something yummy for us. I would sit on the counter between the sink and the stand mixer and watch everything she did. Nana was very meticulous. She was so precise and neat that she actually had carpet in her kitchen. Who has ever heard of such a thing? I certainly could not live that life.
I honestly do not remember my grandmother making any other dessert than this one, but she probably did. This Hot Water Chocolate Cake and its amazing vanilla frosting was just my all-time favorite of hers. The special ingredient, clove, adds a depth of flavor to the cake, which brings everyone back for seconds. To this day, I love making it for family gatherings. I always think of my Nana and the gift she gave me so long ago.
Cake Ingredients
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 Tbsp cocoa
½ tsp clove
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1cup Hot water
Frosting
¾ box Confectionary sugar
½ serving spoon of Crisco
Heaping serving spoon of butter
1 tsp vanilla
Hot water as needed
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour loaf pan. Set aside.
Sift first 6 cake ingredients together. Set aside.
Combine sugar and oil in stand mixer with paddle attachment and mix until combined.
Add egg and mix. Alternate adding dry ingredients with hot water. Do not add hot water first.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs. Set aside to cool.
Prepare frosting while cake is cooling.
Combine first four ingredients in a stand mixer.
Add hot water a little at a time to get desired frosting consistency.
Frost cooled cake and refrigerate to firm frosting.
YUM!