Fall into Flavor 5

This is the last week for this meme. I like that it is short and therefore 'do-able' in my mind! :D Thanks Lid at 2nd cup of coffee.

This is the first cake I ever made. I was 11 and my grandmother had died a few months before. I wanted to make this to help my mom feel better. My grandfather helped me. The original recipe called for melted lard and when I added it to the mix, I started to cook the eggs. Grampa helped me beat those eggs into something else. And the cake came out OK in spite of it all. Years later my aunt wondered why my cake tasted more chocolate-y than hers when we used the same recipe. Well when we compared, her's said 6 tablespoons cocoa and mine said 6 HEAPING tablespoons! She swears her mother was trying to keep it a secret.
Aunt Ruby wasn't actually an aunt, at least not of mine, but rather the aunt of one of my gramma's friends. She must have made a great cake cause this is sure a favorite in our clan.

Aunt Ruby's Devil's Food Cake
2 cups sugar
1 cup lard*
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon white vinegar in a cup add milk to equal 1 cup)
Sift together:
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 heaping tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
Add last:
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cup of boiling water

* if you use vegetable shortening, you will need 1 cup shortening PLUS 1/4 cup oil

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 straight edged cake pans.
Cream together sugar, eggs and lard. Add milk and dry ingredients alternating till thoroughly mixed. The batter will be very stiff at this stage. Add the vanilla and boiling water last. (it is nearly impossible to half this recipe - I always forget and add a full cup of boiling water and then have to add all the other ingredients!) You can also use hot coffee instead of the boiling water for a mocha flavor. Divide batter in the 3 cake pans and bake till a toothpick comes out clean. About 20 minutes. Do not over bake. Allow cake to fully cool before frosting it.

Frosting (OK I admit, I usually use canned frosting - this cakes takes at least a can and a half to cover it all.) But if you want to do the whole thing yourself, here is the traditional frosting my Grampa taught me that first time.
2 sticks softened butter
4 cups confectioner's sugar (the old recipes say XXX sugar)
4 tablespoons cream (a tad more if needed)
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 tablespoons cocoa
Whip sugar, butter and cocoa adding cream as needed to make it smooth. Add vanilla. Place one layer of cake on a plate and frost top, add next layer and repeat, add last layer. Frost sides first then the final top. Serve with a glass of milk!
This is my FAVORITE birthday cake!