Busy-Day Chocolate Cake

So on Valentine's Day I realized that afternoon that I had planned a great menu for dinner but hadn't planned a dessert. What? No dessert on Valentine's Day? That's just WRONG! So I quickly resolved this problem by making this cake to finish out our menu of Shrimp Scampi, garlic bread and Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons.

Now if the recipe looks familiar, it's probably because you've seen my recipe for Wacky Cake. They're basically the same thing, but this one makes a smaller cake.

I'm not going to include a recipe for frosting. I just used an MSPI-friendly can of frosting that I had on hand, but the frosting from the Wacky Cake recipe would be great, too. Or just go without. This cake is great, even without frosting.

Busy-Day Chocolate Cake
Source: "Mad Hungry" by Lucinda Scala Quinn

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking pan, whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Make a well in center of flour mixture and add canola oil, pure vanilla extract, white vinegar and cold water. Whisk until well combined. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack before topping with frosting of choice or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Tip: Go to this link to watch Lucinda make this recipe.

Quick Start with MSPI Mama: This is one of my Quick Start recipes, as long as you skip adding frosting. In lieu of frosting, try a sprinkling of powdered sugar.