T.T.: In Honor of My 42nd Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. To commemorate the occasion, I took a special Morning Walk Photo:

A selfie with the rising sun. And my faithful companion in the background.

Of more practical use to all of you, however, is the following recipe for Grandma Bishop's Chocolate Cake.

I have mentioned this cake many, many times in my Friday Food posts. It's my go-to cake, because it's so easy and good. The recipe came from the MiL's grandmother. The original name of it was Dom Econ cake (as in, Domestic Economy).

The Dom Econ cake recipe is associated with Cornell University. It's possible Grandma Bishop, who attended Cornell, learned it there. The recipe I have from the MiL indicates that it's circa 1910. 

My actual recipe.

She may also have learned it from a women's club she belonged to that almost certainly received information, recipes, and demonstrations from Cornell's Agricultural Extension program.

In any case, this recipe has now been in the family for over a century.

Grandma Bishop's great-great grandson (Cubby) made it for me yesterday for my birthday. It's easy enough that an 11-year-old can just follow the recipe. And it uses only one mixing bowl. And no electric mixer.

If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is.

So, without further ado, I present to you . . .

Grandma Bishop's Chocolate Cake 

* Recipe as written makes one cake layer.

Ingredients

2 well-rounded tablespoons cocoa ("well-rounded" means "heaping")

1/4 cup lard OR 1/3 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup boiling water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup buttermilk or full-fat plain yogurt

Instructions

1) Butter and flour an 8"x8" pan, or 9" round cake pan. If you want to be very sure the cake comes out cleanly, cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and then butter and flour it.

2) Put cocoa, lard or butter cut into pieces, and boiling water in medium bowl. Stir until all the fat melts.

3) Stir in the sugar, flour, and salt.

4) When combined, stir in the egg and vanilla.

5) In the measuring cup you used for the flour and sugar, put the buttermilk or yogurt and quickly stir in the baking soda. It will foam up. It's fun.

6) Add the buttermilk/yogurt mixture to the batter in the bowl and mix it all together quickly. Pour into prepared pan.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

8) Let cool completely before upending the pan to take the cake out. Frost as you like. Or, if you're like me and aren't so into frosting, just dust the top with some powdered sugar.

Yum. 

Thanks, Grandma Bishop. Your memory (and your cake) lives on.