Summer Memories and a Texas Best Chocolate Cake Recipe!

As a child, I loved summer. I still love it, but I’m not as immune to the heat as I once was. Back then, on the very first day school turned out I shucked my shoes and went barefoot all summer long. I don’t think I put them back on except for church until school started back again in the fall.

One of my fondest memories from summer was camping with my dad’s family. We’d camp out down by the river. We slept in the back of our station wagon and cooked over an open fire. The food tasted so good. The water was shallow enough to go wading, and I still remember the smell of coffee brewing on the fire.

And I remember my mom’s homemade chocolate cake.

I loved watching her in the kitchen. She was an artist in her own way. Mom never used a recipe because she knew them all by heart. A talent I have yet to master.

Today, I’m sharing my favorite chocolate cake recipe with you. Perfect for summer picnics and parties. Though I’m not sure it matches up to the one my mother made, it’s awfully good and I hope you enjoy it.

Texas Best Chocolate Cake recipe

INGREDIENTS:

Cake:

2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup boiling water

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Cake:

Cream together sugar, shortening, and eggs. Beat well. Sift together 3 times flour, cocoa, and salt. Add and mix well buttermilk, boiling water, baking soda, and vanilla.

Spread into a greased 13″x9″x2″ baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Icing:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together in medium saucepan sugar, cocoa, milk, and margarine. Boil 1 minute. Add pecans and vanilla.

Leave this thin like syrup and pour over cake while icing is hot; reheat if needed. Will form a sweet glaze.

And don't forget to enter our Summer of Suspense contest for a chance to win some great prizes!

Happy Summer Everyone!

Mary Alford