Chocolate Layer Cake

Chocolate Layer Cake

For the Icing:

• 3 cups sugar
• 3 ½ blocks of unsweetened baking chocolate
• 2 5oz. cans evaporated milk
• ½ cup of butter
• 1 tsp vanilla

(I add a little more sugar and a bit of cocoa powder to make it extra chocolate for a friend who just can’t ever get enough chocolate. Lol! So once you’ve made this a time or two…you can play with how sweet and how much chocolate to suit your taste)

For the Cake:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3 ½ cups self-rising flour
• 1 ¾ cups water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Solid shortening for greasing the pans

Instructions:

1. Start with everything at room temperature. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 8” or 9” cake pans.
2. Make the Icing:
   • Add everything at once to a heavy-bottomed pot.
   • Stir.
   • Cook over medium-low heat until sugar is completely dissolved and no grainy texture remains.
   • Stir often and do not let boil.
3. Make the Batter:
   • Cream together butter and sugar.
   • Add eggs one at a time. Beat well.
   • Add flour and water alternately, beginning and ending with flour.
   • Mix in vanilla.
   • Pour approximately ¾ cup batter into each well-greased pan. Smooth to edges.
   • Bake until layers are barely golden on top.
   • Remove from oven and turn out on cooling racks.
   • Clean pans, grease well and repeat baking.
4. Assemble the Cake:
   • Start frosting when the first batch of layers is done.
     Cover a still-warm layer with a cardboard round that has been placed on top of a cooling rack inside a baking sheet.
   • Over the layer, spread ¼ cup of frosting. Layer the next on top and keep going.
   • Spoon any leftover frosting over the top and sides after stacking and decorating every layer.
   • Return the icing to very low heat and stir until it regains spreading consistency if it thickens.

Tips:

• Cook as many layers at a time as your oven will hold without the pans touching.
• Cover your cardboard round with tinfoil. Scoop up the extra icing as it pools around the bottom and return it to the pot.