J's Favorite Chocolate Birthday Cake

The women in J's family are extraordinary bakers. At Christmas, his grandmother often bakes every grandkid's favorite dessert--usually, J gets a light-as-a-cloud angel food cake all to himself. When we visits his house at Thanksgiving, his mom keeps me busy baking gingersnaps, revel bars and other treats--not for dessert but for "snacks" during the holiday break.

For J's birthday this year (his claims its his 29th--again--but the candles tell a different story), he requested the chocolate cake of his youth. I talked to his mom on the phone and she rattled off the recipe from memory. His dad likes to use sour cream instead of the sour milk, but his mom says that makes it too heavy. I recommend using the best unsweetened cocoa you can find since it's the star of the show. I used two 9 inch round cake pans for the batter and froze one cake for later indulgence.

Sour Milk Chocolate Cake

2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 c. sour milk--mix 1 c. milk and 2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. boiling water

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add milk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Add boiling water and stir.

Pour batter into cake pans. Depending on size of pans, will probably need to bake 25-35 minutes. Check it frequently, using a toothpick to test.

Chocolately Fudge Frosting

1/2 stick butter
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. cocoa
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir constantly. Boil for one minute. Cool completely before spreading frosting.