Quick & Easy Skillet Cake

This chocolate cake isn't fancy, but it is super quick and can be made with basic ingredients most of us have on hand at all times. There is no waiting for your milk/butter/eggs to get to room temp, because none of those things are in the cake (but it's still yummy, I swear!) Bake it in a cast iron skillet, or it would also work in an 8x8 casserole dish or cake pan. I have to give credit for this recipe to Marcia Rose-Richie. This recipe of hers originally appeared in the monthly catalog for Penzey's spices.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

1 1/2 Cups All-purpose Flour

3 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder (natural, not dutch-process)

1 Cup Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vinegar (do not use balsamic or flavored vinegar)

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 cup cold Water

Sift dry ingredients together into a (10" or 12") cast iron skillet. If you don't have a skillet, use an 8x8 baking pan or casserole dish. Stir the dry ingredients with a fork until well-mixed. Make three wells in the dry ingredients. Pour the oil into the first well, the vinegar into the second, and the vanilla into the third. Pour the cold water over the top of it all, then stir with a fork until well-blended. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool, then frost.

Frosting:

4 Tablespoons softened Butter

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

dash of salt

2 Tablespoons milk or room temp black coffee

Cream together the butter, sugar, cocoa and salt until well-mixed. Add the liquid and beat until fluffy. You can do this by hand since it is such a small batch, you really don't need to use a stand mixer for this.

 

This recipe is featured on Simple Supper Tuesday at Hun, What's For Dinner?