Easiest Chocolate Cake

I don't know about you guys, but I find that it's so easy to get stuck into an evening rut.  If I don't have something planned, something constructive planned, my evening routine goes like this:

1. check blogs
2. make pasta
3. eat pasta
4. write blog post
5. catch up on American TV

But if I have something planned, anything planned, even something as simple as trying a new recipe for dinner, the whole evening ends up being productive.

Exhibit A: last night.  John's dad came over for dinner to talk about the wedding - John's getting married in September and Jon and Sam are the best men- and so I was up and running from the moment I stepped in the door.  I wasn't in charge of the meal, but since we had company I had my game face on for the whole evening.  Even after John's dad left I was still on form and so I decided, in true Betsy fashion, to bake a cake.

And then, because the cake was very thin and lonely, I decided to make a second layer.  And then, because if you're going to bake a layer cake you might as well go all out, I made third layer.

The really extraordinary thing about this (if I do say so myself) is that I found what must be the most basic chocolate cake recipe out there on the web.  It smells delish and I'm sure it will taste even more so - how can you go wrong with this kind of simplicity?  I had everything in my fridge already; it didn't take any special ingredients.  (And yes, Christine, buttermilk and sour cream are special.  Don't give me that whole wide-eyed "oh, I just happened to have almond paste in my pantry" crap.  Sike, you know I love you.)

So without further ado, I give you Sweet Paul's Easy Chocolate Cake:

1 stick melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbs cocoa
3/4 c flour

Combine the melted butter and the sugar.  Stir in the two eggs.  Add the vanilla, cocoa, and flour and mix all together until - well, until it looks like cake batter.  Pour the batter into a buttered cake pan (I used an 8x8 tin which resulted in thin but beautiful layers) and bake at 160*c for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  I'm using Betty Crocker chocolate frosting between the layers because I'm too lazy to make my own, but Sweet Paul suggests just dusting the top of the cake with powdered sugar.  Serve and enjoy!

(There're only one meager photo here because I ran out of frosting and will have to pick up some more on the way to work to finish the cake - it's a work in progress!  Think it might be awkward if I bring the cake to work, frost it in the kitchen, and then take it away to be eaten at tonight's rehearsal?  Nah...)