A Chocolate Blast From the Past

My husbands' birthday is on February 29^th so of course he gets teased on the years his birthday is not technically on the calendar.  Nonetheless, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his celebration this year.  He thought maybe a German chocolate cake.  For some strange reason, my mind swirled back to a memory of a chocolate cake I used to make when I was younger.  Although not a German chocolate cake, I was already set on the plan for his birthday confection. 

When I say younger, I mean much younger.  Before kids…before marriage…before college…before high school.  At the ripe old age of 10, I used to enjoy playing with my friend LuAnne, who was two years older than me.  We used to take turns going to each other’s house.  One of the activities we enjoyed was baking.  We started this tradition at her house using Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cookbook.  We had so much fun picking out what we wanted to make, and under her mother’s supervision, we learned to bake from scratch.

We learned to measure and pour, beat and stir, blend and frost.  We would double the recipe so we each got to bring home whatever we made.  My mother told me that when I came home from my first ‘baking play date’, she asked me what mix I used.  I responded by asking her what a mix was.  She said, ‘You know, what box did you pour the ingredients from?’  When I told her we didn’t use a box but used flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and some other stuff, she was shocked.  She said her 10-year old shamed her into starting to bake from scratch again.  And might I add that in hindsight I am so glad that happened because my mother is one of the best bakers I know.

When I pulled out my old cookbook a few weeks ago, the cover was held together with scotch tape and the pages were falling out.  I hadn’t used it or even thought about it for years.  I really don’t know what made me think of resurrecting it now, but it was one of my favorites back in the day.  

As I carefully turned the pages, little brown splatters dotted page 97, while a few greasy smudges stated their presence at the top of the page.  These were signs of a well-liked recipe.  I had fun reminiscing through the book of other favorites we used to make.  By the sign of the pages, I would have to say that we liked the chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, and brownies quite a bit. 

Cocoa Fudge Cake recipe (on the right)

I followed the recipe to a tee.  As it was cooking in the oven, I suddenly had a horrible thought.  Although I liked this cake when I was 10 years old, I hadn’t made it in decades.  What if what I remembered as delicious at the age of 10 was not so delicious now?  A kid’s taste buds and an adult’s are very different.  To make matters worse, I invited a few couples over after we went out to dinner to celebrate Chris’ birthday with the cake.

I announced my disclaimer before slicing up the cake that night.  Everyone enjoyed looking at the tattered book as I explained the story.  Thankfully the cake was a hit.  I guess Betty Crocker withstood the ages. 

Some fun cakes we used to dream about replicating.