This is a fast and easy chocolate cake that makes your whole kitchen smell wonderful when baking. I recall that when either my Mother or Grandmother were in a hurry, they would throw all the ingredients in immediately after the creaming portion was complete (not even first combining the dry ingredients and then adding)… and it turned out just fine. I like frosting this with a chocolate buttercream.

Ready

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ¾ cup Hershey’s cocoa
• 1 ¾ cus flour, unsifted
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 1 ¾ cup milk

Set

• Mixer
• 2 mixing bowls
• measuring spoons and cups
• Spatula
• Baking pan

Go

1. Cream together sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs.
2. Combiine dry ingredients, and mix into creamed mixture, alternately with milk (this will seem to yield a “watery” batter—don’t worry, it’s correct!)
3. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 35 minutes, in a greased, floured pan.

What you should know

You may use 2 9” round pans, 1 13 X 9” oblong, or angel food round pan. My grandmother used to leave it in the oblong pan and just simply frost the top, then serve at Sunday dinner.