This is a mellow chocolate cake your whole family will love. You can make it fancy by cooking it in round cake pans and decorating it, or keep it simple by baking it in a 13×9 inch rectangular pan. Put some icing on the top and you’re good to go. This cake is delicious room temperature or cold (I like my cake frosted and straight from the fridge).
Any way you like it, cake is comfort food at its finest—and hey, this one’s homemade!
Oh, and if you’re watching your waistline, consider ditching the frosting all together–sprinkle some powdered sugar on the top and top with fresh raspberries and a sprig of mint (and maybe a dollop of whipped topping, but just a little one). Yum.
For this recipe you’ll need:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ tsp. kosher salt (or ½ tsp. regular table salt)
2/3 cup butter, softened
3 TB cooking oil (vegetable or olive)
¼ cup applesauce
2 cups granulated sugar (watching your carbs? Use Splenda!)
1 tsp. raspberry extract
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ¼ cups milk
½ cup white or milk chocolate chips (optional)
To make this recipe:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and kosher salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter. Add oil, sugar, applesauce, raspberry extract, and vanilla extract and mix on high until well combined and smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix for 30 seconds after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients and the milk alternately, starting with the dry and ending with the wet (do this in two batches—1/2dry, ½ wet, repeat). Fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour into a greased 13×9 pan or two round 9-inch cake pans (greased).
Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack then top with your favorite icing. I usually use a store-bought chocolate or vanilla frosting—make it delicious by adding a touch of vanilla extract and mixing before spreading it on the cake.
Try Jennifer’s Homemade Chocolate Icing! Click Here!