Alexander cooked his very first cake today, and he did it almos completely on his own! Matthew, who just had to help, measured the baking soda. But Alexander chose the recipe, read the ingredients, and helped me decide if we had everything we needed (that was the only restriction; I didn't want to go to the store).
Then he read and followed the recipe- by himself! Along the way, the only help I offered was "are you sure that you only need 1/2 cup of flour?" And "check that, buddy- is is Tablespoon or Teaspoon?" He can definitely say that he made this cake all by himself. I even told him how to test for doneness, which he did all by himself (though he was a little too nervous to actually take the cake out of the oven by himself).
He is so proud of himself- if you get a chance, I hope you enjoy a piece of celebratory cake with us!
Crunchy Topped Cocoa Cake**
Cake†
1 1/2 cups all purpouse flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Broiled topping
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup coarsley chopped nuts (we used pecans)
1/2 cup Mounds Sweetened Coconut Flakes
3 Tablespoons light cream or evaporated milk
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a lagre bowl. Add water, oil, vanilla; beat with spoon or wisk just until the batter is smooth and ingredients are well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake 35- 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Meanwhile, prepare Broiled Topping by combining topping ingredients in a small bowl, spread on warm cake. Set oven to broil, place pan about 4 inches from heat. Broil 3 minutes or until top is bubbly and golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
**From Hershey's Best Loved Recipes, p.54
†You may notice that there are no eggs listed- that is not an error. There are no eggs in this recipe