Chocolate Pudding Cake

This creation is one of my most favorite recipes from my mom. It is so simple, but so CHOCOLATE! I've seen many spin-offs from this recipe lately (think "lava cake"), but none are as good as this recipe from my childhood.

OVEN: 350 degrees

3 Tablespoons baking cocoa
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all ingredients until well blended. Pour into an 8 x 12" baking dish.

Over top of cake mixture, sprinkle (without mixing):
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 Tablespoons baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups cold water

Bake for 40 minutes.

Best served warm as topping forms a pudding in bottom of cake pan. Takes great with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

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Around the Kitchen

We just finished a tasty meal of Hamburger Pie. On a chilly, rainy day, it's the perfect way to warm up your insides. As I was putting it together, it occurred to me that this is one of the "freshest" meals we've enjoyed in a while. The ground beef is from our recent annual purchase of a side of beef ... the potatoes are fresh from a friend's garden ... green beans are homegrown ... eggs are from a local chicken farmer ... and the grated cheese is an awesome 7X cheddar from the local farm market. Is your mouth watering yet?!

In other kitchen news, we spent some time with family recently and I discovered an awesome kitchen store! We were puttering around some of the shops in National Harbor, MD and wandered into Stonewall Kitchen. I immediately fell in love. It was tough not walking out of there with one of each of the delicious sauces they sell. I settled on the Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce, which I have been hoarding for a special occasion ever since. I also came home with the Stonewall Kitchen Breakfast Cookbook. I can't wait to try out some of the recipes. Titles like Walnut Pancakes with Maple-Glazed Apples and Thick Double-Chocolate Cocoa sound almost too good to be true!

It will soon be time to think about making some fresh applesauce and apple butter. The cans of green beans are already on the shelf and the freezer is full of beef for the winter. I love this time of year!

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