A few days ago, I received an email from a friend.
On Saturday, he would be headed to Lakeland, where Chicky attends college, and he wanted to know if the Mr. and I wanted him to deliver anything to Chicky.
It took me all of two seconds to decide what I would send.
Meanwhile, the Mr. went shopping while I got things ready at home…
He got home, and we happily compared what we had pulled together for her.
This was my contribution…
It’s my Chocolate Chip cake!
It became an instant favorite the first time I made it two years ago. I posted the recipe back then, but I thought I would post it again…
Chocolate Chip Cake
Duncan Heinz Butter cake mix
1 small package Jello instant vanilla pudding
1/2 bar grated chocolate (I usually use German chocolate – it’s in a green package)
chocolate chips
1 cup oil
1 cup milk OR water (if you’re lactose-intolerant like me)
4 eggs
A bundt pan(Let me just say to start – grating the chocolate is the most time consuming part of this cake. I’ve found that using a zester instead of a grater works so much better. In any event, grate your chocolate first before doing anything else and you’ll be happy you did.)
With mixer, beat together cake mix, vanilla pudding, oil and eggs. Fold in grated chocolate. Put half of mixture into bundt pan, add enough chocolate chips to your liking, put rest of mixture on top (and maybe a few more chocolate chips?) Make sure chocolate chips are pushed into the top layer of cake mix. Lick the spoon, bowl and detach and lick the mixer blades, seriously. It’s that good.)
Bake at 350 deg. for an hour or until inserted knife or toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool in the bundt pan (I can’t stress this enough!). Once cool, tip over onto plate and cover with powered sugar if you wish.
I called Chicky to let her know that the friend would be calling her later to hand her some “stuff” from us.
She sighed in the “I don’t really want to be bothered” sort of way.
I growled to the Mr. that she was being a little unappreciative for someone who was about to get a yummy surprise.
I called her later in the afternoon, and she was still waiting to meet up.
A little while later, I saw a Facebook message from Chicky’s roommate: “Mrs. AuburnChick, I just ate a piece of the best tasting cake ever!!! thank you so much! it was delicious :)”
Ahhh…I figured Chicky had gotten the cake.
Then, I realized I had left my phone in the car from when I had been out earlier.
I ran out to get it, and I found a missed call from her.
I called her back.
I could hear her smiling on the phone. You know that sound. Even though you might not be able to see a person’s face when you speak on the phone, you can hear body language.
She very gratefully thanked me for the cake and commented on how moist it was.
I had remembered to add the pudding mix this time. It makes a lot of difference.
She was also thankful for the bottle of expensive hair serum I had included in her goody bag. The stuff is $17 a bottle, but she needs it to keep her hair from frying when she straightens it.
I told her that I had missed making her birthday cake this year. In fact, I missed having her at home that day.
This was my way of making it up to her.
I also told her that no matter how mad she gets at me, I wanted her to know that I always love her.
I think she got the message.
Filed under: children | Tagged: child rearing, chocolate chip cake | 4 Comments »
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