Kat's Cream Chocolate Cake

The original recipe for this cake came from my Uncle Reid.  I changed up a few things and made it for my daughter's birthday this year.  It was amazing.  The cream made it soft and moist and melt in your mouth delicious.  This is one cake that holds its own well, even (or perhaps especially) without frosting.

I repeated it for my son's birthday, adding Caramel Whipped Cream (see below) to the top, which made it simply DIVINE.

As usual CHARM-LIGHT chanted (or intended) while cooking turns it into a Masterpiece.

Combine:
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup butter

Add:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cream
Pinch salt

Mix until well combined.

Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes (use tooth pick test for doneness).

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Optional Caramel Whipped Cream Topping
Whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 heaping tablespoons of dulce de leche until stiff peaks form. Spread over cooled cake. Refrigeration required for topping.

Dulce de leche can be bought at most Mexican grocers, but you can make your own (ahead of time) with sweetened condensed milk.

To make dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk:
Remove labels from and place cans on sides in deep saucepan. Fill saucepan with water to at least an inch above top of cans. Boil sweetened condensed milk in water for 3 hours.

Important Note: Keep a close eye on water level, keeping it well above the top of cans while boiling, and be sure to allow contents to cool before opening. Allowing water to get too low or opening cans when contents are hot can cause caramel to spurt out and cause severe burns.  It may be a good idea to set a timer every 30 minutes to check water level.

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Additional Notes:

Using brown sugar instead of white sugar in any recipe will make it softer and moister.

Use only real butter. Do not substitute butter with margarine, shortening or anything else. If you want a PERFECT cake, you must use real butter. I generally use unsalted butter.

Cream makes the cake moist and light. Do not substitute cream with milk, soy milk or anything else. If you want a PERFECT cake, you must use cream.

And finally.....since I work a lot with Switchwords, I like to chant CHARM-LIGHT as I cook. This tends to give me inspiration to create amazing foods.