Redemption: a dish best served warm and gooey

First of all, I should apologize for not posting in over a month. I was in fact feeding myself while I was on hiatus, but I wasn't sufficiently impressed with my chili and beef stew to recommend the recipes while the dishes were still photogenic. Like most soups and stews, however, they went from "ho-hum" to "yum!" after a couple days in the fridge. They froze beautifully as well.

You can find the chili recipe here. The beef stew was actually a carbonnade, or Belgian beer & beef stew. (I know, right?) The recipe I used was from America's Test Kitchen (subscription required), but I think this blogger followed their recipe pretty closely.

And I'm afraid I have to make another blogger confession - the recipe below is actually a repost of a recipe I posted on my first blog over two years ago. (I realize that I started that post with a confession as well - Catholic guilt dies hard). I think this is the first time I've made this cake since then, but I definitely redeemed myself from the spectacular failure of my last endeavor.

I made this cake last night on a whim because I craved something chocolate. (I blame the lingering effects of Valentine's Day marketing). This pudding cake was both simple to throw together and immensely satisfying. As you can see in the picture, the middle of the cake was thick, gooey, and bubbling when I took it out of the oven - like chocolate lava. Beware the sugar coma. ;)

Old Fashioned Chocolate Puddin' Cake

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons melted shortening or oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1¾ cups hot water

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, combine first 9 ingredients. Mix at medium speed until well blended. Spread in ungreased 8 or 9-inch square pan. In small bowl, combine brown sugar, ¼ cup cocoa and hot water; pour over batter. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until cake is set. I like to serve the cake warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!