- 2 cups cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 1 can chocolate icing
Preparation:
Heat oven to 350-400 degrees. A can pan of 9 inches would be most accurate for this temperature. You will need 2 cake pans depending on the number of layers for the cake. Pour a cap full size of vegetable oil into the pans, followed by a sprinkle of flour. Begin rubbing the oil and flour mixture around the pan. This will keep the cake from sticking while cooking and cooling.
Aj, my youngest brother, loved doing this. He always enjoyed getting his hands messy, but never really seemed to think he didn't have to clean up the mess.
"It feels so slimy and sticky", Aj laughed.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You better clean it up when your done", I demanded.
Once you have greased your pans, get a bowl to mix the ingredients.You will need the cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil and milk. Pour the 2 cups of cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and 3/4 cup of milk into the bowl.
"Let me crack the eggs this time", Aj begged.
He always wanted to do everything, just to say he baked the cake on his own.
"No, you did it last time, it's my turn", I argued back.
"How about the both of you crack one egg a piece, stop all the fussing", Grandma demanded, serious but amused.
Grandma always found the positive side of every situation. Once you have put all the ingredients in the bowl, blend them together on medium power for about 2 minutes. Make sure all of the ingrediants are blended in well. It always got a little rowdy in the kitchen when the blender came on. Everyone would be trying to talk over the blender and each other, screaming to the top of their lungs like they were on a roller coaster. Demetrius, my little cousin, would cry because of all the noise. My grandma spoiled all her grandchildren, so she couldn't resist picking him up to baby him.
"Did the noise scare granny's baby? It's okay, you gonna be alright Meechi", Grandma said in a babyish voice as if Demetrius understood her.
He always seemed to have this wonderous smile on his face, as if Grandma's voice was magical. When you are done blending the cake batter, distribute the batter evenly into the two cake pans. Try to get as much batter out of the bowl as possible. This is always my favorite part. I always try to be the one to pour out the cake batter so I can "lick the bowl". After the cake batter is in the pans, place the cake pans into the oven on the middle rack. Let the cake cook for at least 25-30 minutes.
To keep busy while the cake baked, we'd clean up our mess. Grandma washed the dishes, I rinsed them, and Aj put them away. Then, Aj whipped the counters as I swept the floor.
"Who wants to play Boggles?' Aj asked eagerly.
"Sure, let's play", I agreed.
"You ready to get beat again', Grandma teased my bother.
We got out sheets of paper and a writing utensil from the shelf and sat at the table. Aj made this rule that since he was second to the youngest grandchild that he would shake the game first. He'd shake and shake and shake as if there was no tomorrow.
"Come on already, hurry up" I complained.
I hated the shaking sound of the Boggles game, so annoying.
"Oh, stop being such a crybaby" Aj laughed, continuing to shake the game, until he seen the annoyed look on my face.
He sat the game down and removed the lid while Grandma started the 1 minute timer. We played at least 15 rounds of boggles, then I went to check on the cake. To check to see if the cake is done, use a fork or a toothpick and stick down the middle of the cake. When you pull it out and there is no excess cake left, it's done. Use oven mittens to remove the cake pans from the oven and place on the counter to cool. Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes.
Aj and I would sit around and sing or tell jokes to make time fly by. Grandma would be taking her medicine, the medicine she has to take 30 minutes before she eats. Demetrius would be somewhere running aroung getting into something he has no business doing.
Once the cakes have cooled off, it's time to put the icing on. Open the chocolate icing and use a butter knife to stir and soften the icing. Then, remove one of the cakes and place it on a plate. Take big clunks of icing and place on the cake. Spread the icing evenly across and around the cake. Remove the other layer of cake and place on top and repeat the following directions.
"It's ready, it's ready, the chocolate is finally ready," Aj cheered.
He always wanted to be the one to get the first slice. Once you have finished icing the whole cake you are finally done. Get a saucer, grab a knife, cut a slice of a cake and enjoy. Once we finished icing the cake, we'd all get a slice and sit around the table like one big happy family eating chocolate cake.
