Whimsy

Scrumptious Chocolate Cake

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A few posts ago, I promised you my chocolate cake recipe (or “receipt,” as it was known in Great Britain in Jane Austen’s time).  I’ve had this recipe for years, as you can tell by the condition of the recipe I tore from a magazine umpteen years ago.  This cake is simply scrumptious, and I’ve made it dozens of times.

I hope my British friends won’t balk at the mention of “Hershey’s.”  It seems many Brits regard American Hershey bars as something less than true chocolate, and I have to say that I agree.  I love chocolate, but I don’t like Hershey bars.  They seemed better when I was a youngster, but nowadays I think the makers have cut too many corners.  No matter; the company’s cocoa remains first rate, and you can use it or any other for this recipe successfully.

I like this cake served with a nice, tall glass of cold milk.  Silk brand is my favorite (vanilla flavor–yum!), as I’ve been a vegetarian for nearly 20 years.  The cake is also great with tea.  Earl Grey is a spectacular pairing, with its hints of bergamot, or orange blending nicely with the chocolate.

Here’s the recipe.

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake

2 cups (473 ml) of plain, white, granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups (414 ml)  of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (177) of cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 ml)  of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 ml) of baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 ml) of salt
2 eggs
1 cup (236 ml) of milk or soy milk (I like Silk brand.)
1/2 cup (118 ml) of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons (10 ml)of vanilla extract
1 cup  (236 ml) of boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C).
Grease and flour two 9″ (23 cm) baking pans.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
Beat the mixture on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Do not over-beat.
Stir in boiling water.  Do not beat in.  Batter will be quite watery.  This is normal.
Pour batter into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes.
Remove cake from pans and cool completely.

Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

1 stick (118 ml) butter or margarine or 1/4 cup (59 ml) + 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of olive oil.
2/3 cup (157 ml) of cocoa powder
3 cups (709 ml) of powdered confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup (79 ml) of milk
1 teaspoon (5 ml) of vanilla extract

Melt the butter, margarine, or oil.
Stir in the cocoa powder.
Beat at medium speed, adding sugar and milk, alternating, as you go.
Add vanilla and beat in.
Add more milk and beat, if needed to bring frosting to spreading consistency.

 

About the Elephant …

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My first Christmas-themed novella, ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS was a labor of love.  It’s a rather whimsical story that includes … well, read on and you’ll find out.  🙂

In 1999, my first novel, THE BLUE DEVIL, was a finalist for a Golden Heart award from the Romance Writers of America.  An editor from Kensington Books was one of the final-round judges, and she purchased the book for Kensington’s Zebra Regency line.  

Amy asked for a very detailed, 20 page synopsis before she purchased my second book, THE BLUE STOCKING (working title).  Amy wrote the cover blurb and came up with a new title, MISS GRANTHAM’S ONE TRUE SIN (a vast improvement, I know!).  Other than that, Amy was pretty hands-off, and I loved her for that at the time (though now I know I really needed a heavier editorial hand).  Then she had the gall to leave Kensington to go off and—I don’t know, live her life, I guess?—and I was an orphan.  Stuck with a brand-new editor, Hilary-something.  Someone who might not love my work as much as I did. 

The New Editor is Not Pleased

Naively, I didn’t do my homework on Ms. Something before submitting my next book proposal, and so I submitted a synopsis that weighed in at 23 pages to an editor who’d declared publicly that anything over 1 pages for a synopsis was a waste of her time.   

She called me.   She’d taken a look at the synopsis, and she didn’t like it.  In fact, she hated it—and I was rather peeved.

Rapid-fire, I offered several other ideas, and Hilary shot them all down.  She didn’t mind the widowed-with-children, impoverished lord I’d invented nor the runaway heiress, but she seemed to be going for a funny, witty, spritely story, not the serious, contemplative, poignant piece I had in mind.  I couldn’t sway her.  Nothing was clicking.  She wanted a funny story, and that was that.

Frustrated, I finally suggested (with what I thought was expertly hidden sarcasm) that I could have my heroine show up at my hero’s country estate with a baby elephant in tow.  Would that be funny enough, did she think?

Surprise!

I don’t know what I was expecting when I threw out the ridiculous idea of writing a baby elephant into a Regency Christmas story, but it wasn’t this:

“Perfect!” Hilary Something.  “Write it.”

There followed, as dearest Hilary would described it to me later, a “funny little moment,” a lengthy pause during which I contemplated what I’d just gotten myself into.  At the same time, Hilary was (I imagine) attempting to hold down a hoot of laughter.  She’d allowed me to back myself into a corner.  There was no way out without admitting I’d been a brat.

“Okay,” I said.  

And now I had to write a baby-elephant-Regency-England-Christmas-runaway-heiress-and-two-children story.  Hoo-boy!  There was no way this was going to be a poignant, serious story.  Nope.  I was forced to bring on the whimsy.

The Editor Didn’t Really Eat Small Children for Breakfast

Once Upon a Christmas turned out to be a personal favorite story.  My readers liked it, too.  And “Hilary Something” became just “Hilary.”  I came to love her dearly, and my time working with her was regrettably short.  If anyone knows what became of Hilary Sares, please let me know, because I’ve tried to contact her with no success.  (Hilary, if you ever read this, I’m sorry, and thank you, you wonderful, beautiful, canny soul!)

What I Learned

And that’s how the elephant came to be, and how I learned a few valuable lessons:

Do your research.

Editors are people.

Improbable stories can be a whole heck of a lot of fun to read–and write.

Keeping my mouth shut doesn’t always lead to the best outcome.