SCOTCH CHOCOLATE CAKE

Most people love chocolate and I am one of those people! This cake is a treat that has been handed down to me from my dear, sweet mother-in-law Kathy Schroeder. She taught me so many good things through her loving example. She was one of those do-as-I-do people that I was blessed to know and love! 

Back to the cake...Joel requested that I take this to the cousin family reunion we recently attended.  So if you would like to try this recipe, here it is!

The well-loved and often-used original recipe card.

I measure out all my ingredients and then mix them in the order listed above. You'll notice I use Saco powdered buttermilk. I keep it on hand in the refrigerator for baking all kinds of things. (Did you read my blog about buttermilk cookies?)

Measure out the ingredients you will need.

Bring the first ingredients to a boil over medium heat.

Place the first four ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the flour and sugar. I use my small electric mixer at this stage. Stir in the buttermilk and soda, then add the salt, eggs, and vanilla and beat well. Pour into a greased and sugared baking pan. Yes, I said sugared! When I bake cakes and sweet breads I always dust the pans with sugar instead of flour. Guess I have a sweet tooth! 

Grease and sugar the baking pan. Yes, this is the original Ware-Ever No. 918 baking pan I was blessed to inherit.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.  My pan is 15x11, but you can bake this in a 9x13 pan. Check for doneness as it will probably take a bit longer to bake in a smaller pan. Remove from oven and then prepare this frosting:

Place the margarine, cocoa and milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and then the powdered sugar. Mix until no lumps of sugar remain. Pour this mixture over the warm cake. Let it all cool and and then ENJOY sharing with your family and friends!

By the way, I will bake for you on request...if you ask nicely!

Silver Tea and Bake Sale

If you like chocolate, you'll love these!  I'll be bringing these delicious cookies to the Silver Tea and Bake Sale on Saturday, November 10th at the Bolivar United Methodist Church.  Be sure you show up at 1:00 p.m. to purchase these before they sell out.  I'm frosting them with special dark cocoa so they have to be extra loaded with antioxidents! (If you are not a chocolate fan, no worries! We will have fresh bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cookies and lots of other goodies for you to buy.)

This is a hand-me-down recipe from JoPapa's side of the family.  The title said "Aunt Sally's Cocoa Drops".  I never had the pleasure of meeting Aunt Sally, or even knowing if she was one of this family's aunts, but she must have been a good cook, because these are good cookies! Sometimes I use my large tablespoon-sized cookie scoop instead of the smaller teaspoon size.  The problem with a big chocolate cookie is that it's hard to eat just one.  So I can eat lots more of the little nibble sized cookies!  The other problem I've had when I make the large size cookies is that I make too much frosting! Then, it's like when I eat mashed potatoes and gravy...if there are too many potatoes on my plate I need more gravy. If I get too much gravy (is there really such a thing?), I have to have more potatoes to use up the gravy.  So it goes with left over chocolate frosting...then I need to bake something else to frost!

As always, I can be convinced to ship these yummy cookies to you!  Let me know if you want large or small cookies then make me an offer I can't refuse!  Or, you can come purchase them at the Silver Tea and Bake Sale on Saturday, November 10th at the Bolivar United Methodist Church!  Come and get them!!

ANUT SALLY'S COCOA DROPS

COCOA DROPS
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups flour
½ tsp. Soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup cocoa
1 cup chopped pecans
　
Mix shortening, sugar and egg. Stir in milk and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Add nuts. Chill one hour. Drop from teaspoon, 2" apart onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 – 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool. Frost with chocolate icing