The BEST chocolate cake recipe...

It is birthday month at our house, my husband is starting us off with his birthday on Thursday. When I met him, his favorite cake was carrot cake, I had never had a good recipe for carrot cake until recently I got one from my Mom. I was all set to make him a yummy carrot cake this year and when I told him, he said "No, I want the cockeyed cake." I was surprised a little, but really this cake is THE BEST, it is no wonder it has taken over to become his favorite. I debated whether or not to share this recipe, sometimes I can be a bit of a recipe snob. Only because recently I have shared this recipe and when it got compliments, instead of saying "thanks, I got this amazing recipe from SueAnn," all I heard was "thanks." As in them taking ownership of the recipe. I know that is a silly thing to let bug you, but it did bug me. I love a great recipe, but I always make sure to tell it's true source, it is just the right thing to do! I know I am not the original creator of this recipe, but it has been in my family for years, so a simple "thanks I got it from SueAnn", would be nice. ANYWAY, enough of my little rant, here are a couple pictures of the cake from a few months back.

It was a Sunday afternoon and we had agreed to make the cake for my brother in law's birthday. We had planned on bringing it, but we were just going to do a boring decorating job, until I found my pirate cake people with the cake pan. We decided it would be fun to do a pirate cake. Since it was a Sunday, going to the store was out of the questions, so we had to use what we had at home. I think it turned out really well for no planning. A side note is that I have yet to successfully get a rectangular cake out of the cake pan without ruining it. I have tried butter, Pam, shortening and flour, but to no avail. I need to go the parchment paper route, do you have any suggestions?

The "sand" is crushed graham crackers and the boat is a Rice Crispy Treat that we frosted. The rest is my Grandmother's frosting recipe which I will also list below.

Not only is this chocolate cake unbelievably delicious and moist, it contains no eggs, which is perfect for someone allergic to eggs, or great just to let your kids eat the batter without feeling guilty; though I consumed lots of cookie dough as a child and I am fine!

Cockeyed Cake

Bake in a 9x13 pan for 35-40 minutes.

1. Sift together in a bowl:

--3 cups flour

--6 TBSP cocoa

--2 cups sugar

--2 TSP baking soda

--1 TSP salt

2. Make 3 holes in the dry mixture.

3. Into one hole pour 2 TSP vanilla.

4. Into another hole pour 2 TBSP vinegar.

5. Into the last hole pour 3/4 cup cooking oil.

6. Pour 2 cups water over it all.

7. Beat until nearly smooth and you can't see the flour.

8. Pour into pan and bake as above, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

***This recipe also makes good rounded cupcakes. Fill cupcake tins 3/4 full. Makes 30 cupcakes. Bake 20 minutes.

Basic Butter Cream Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 TSP salt

1 TSP vanilla

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup butter softened

Beat until smooth with electric mixer, scraping the bowl often. If too stiff add a little more milk until desired consistency.