Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe from my Farmers Special Notebook.

Today is National Chocolate Cake day. Since my Farmer loves chocolate cake, I decided to make him one in honor of the day. I was in the mood to make something other than a plain chocolate cake from a box. You know, be a bit fancy. However, I did not really have time for fancy or even from scratch baking today, and that’s when I remembered an easy chocolate cake that I hadn’t made forever. It’s a simple chocolate cake, with added pudding and chocolate chips. And it’s all dumped in a pan and stirred. Fast, easy, and a step up from a plain chocolate cake. The first step was to find the recipe. Looking in my recipe box, I was a little stumped when I could not find it there. Then I remember it was a recipe from my Farmers mom. AH HA! Maybe it was in that notebook she made for him. Yep, that’s where it was. Pulling that notebook out of the cupboard brought back memories and had me reminiscing. That’s when I decided to share the background of my Farmer’s special little red notebook. I will share the cake recipe at the end. Promise.

That is the actual notebook that my mother-in-law made for my Farmer. The notebook she made for him when he was leaving home to head out into the world on his own. The notebook did not just have recipes in it. It was a book of knowledge. Her knowledge. Knowledge on some of the basic needs her son would need to know to survive in the world without her. And little did she know, nor did my Farmer or I for that matter, that that little notebook would also help me when I left home for the very first time. OR that after almost 40 years of marriage, I would still be using that wonderful little red notebook with her wonderful knowledge written inside.

At first I thought it was funny that she had to write this stuff down for my Farmer. Such as this….

Really??? My Farmer didn’t even know what kind of cheese he liked? When I first seen this page, my first reaction was “now that’s silly!” But it’s not really. My Farmer’s family bought cheese from their little country store that sold just one kind of cheese. The kind that was cut off of the big round block right there in the store and wrapped up in paper according to what the customer wanted. So he did know what kind of cheese he liked. The kind that store sold. It’s just that outside of the world my Farmer had known all his life, they sold different kinds of cheese. Lot’s of different kinds. These little words for my Farmer from his mom where helpful hints. Hints that would make being out on his own easier, and help him still have that connection to home. This, I realized, after I had children of my own and they were getting ready to head out to start life on their own. I seen that there were little things in life that we do for our kids that they need to know. Things that maybe they had not picked up on. Advice that maybe we had not shared. Knowledge they need to carry along with them when they are out there discovering a whole new world. Recipes to remind them of home. Words to remind them of your love.

And, advice on how to keep their whites white and not pink.

Advice that is so valuable and yet priceless. So yep, I made a little notebook for my boys when they left home to begin their life out in the big, wide, scary world. Their life, without me there to buy cheese for them. I do wonder if they still have their notebooks.

Ok, back to the recipe. We are almost there. Promise. This cake recipe is not the only recipe I still use from this notebook. All the recipes are easy, peasy. Just the way I like to cook. I use the potato soup recipe, the spaghetti recipe, the macaroni and tomatoes recipe….I even use the mac and cheese recipe….”use Kraft box mix” and the bread recipe….”Rhodes frozen bread dough”. I LOVE IT!! Check out this little “note” by the bread recipe.

Don’t forget to put back in bag!

Is that typical for a mom to say to a teenager or what! OK! NOW back to the easy chocolate cake recipe.

Here is a picture of the actual recipe from the notebook.

THE RECIPE
1 box Duncan Hines Deluxe II devils food cake mix (or any choc. cake mix without pudding in it)
1 package chocolate instant pudding (4 serving size)
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350*. Pour oil into an oblong pan (13x9x2) Tilt pan until bottom is covered. Put remaining ingredients into the pan. Stir with a fork until all blended. (about 2 mintues) Scrape sides of pan and spread evenly in pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes.

That’s the recipe. Easy. I use a toothpick to tell when it’s done. If it comes out clean, it’s done.

I do not frost this cake. Which may be one reason I like it. One less step. We top it with Cool Whip. Which may be the main reason I like it. I love Cool Whip and chocolate together.

Give this cake a try. If you like chocolate, I guarantee you will like this cake. The best part, well beside the cake itself, is that the clean up is also really easy. Only one pan and a fork. Nice! (I am smiling here)

Here is the finished product. YUMMY!!! Just to let you know, I did use mini chocolate chips in the cake. It was all I had.

On National Chocolate Cake Day, my Farmer is a very happy guy tonight. He is feeling that he is Livin’ the Life right now. Tomorrow he will be back to Livin’ the Farm Life.