Homemade Chocolate Cake

There are lots of reasons to cook from scratch. For many years, though, I could get boxed cake mixes for pennies with my coupon prowess. It's supposedly faster to bake from a mix as well, but now that I've tried this Homemade Chocolate Cake from Taste of Home I don't think I'll go back. It tastes different, as in better x 10! The cake is smooth, light and deeply delicious. The frosting is the key–the combo of cocoa and cream cheese is just the right amount of tangy, sweet and smooth. Note–this is NOT one of the healthy meals I'm always touting. But when your twins turn 7, you get to celebrate!

Yield: 12-15 slices

Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

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Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cups canola oil
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• Frosting:
• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the water, oil, vanilla and vinegar, and mix well.

Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add in the confectioners' sugar, cocoa, salt, milk and vanilla. Mix well. Spread over cake.

This recipe makes a 9×13 pan of tall, fluffy cake, so you can feed a lot of people. Or you can have a lot of leftovers, which you may want to eat for breakfast. I may have done that. But Bill Cosby says it's okay.

Homemade Chocolate Cake is linked up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam and Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster.