This is one of my all time favourite cakes. It has gone out of fashion in the past few decades which is a crying shame.Should you choose to fire up the oven in your own home, I highly recommend trying this recipe sometime. It's wonderful.
Preheat your oven to 350 F or 180 C
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces of sweet baking chocolate (use good chocolate if you have it)
3/4 cups shortening (vegetable fat)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 buttermilk or sour milk
Grease and flour your baking tins and set aside. I use two 8 x 1 1/2 inch round cake tins.
In a small saucepan melt the chocolate with 1/2 cup water over LOW heat until the chocolate is completely melted and you've got a lovely smooth chocolate sauce. Then set it aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl beat the shortening with an electric mixer until fluffy and then add the sugar and beat some more. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat this until completely smooth and combined. Stir in the chocolate mixture and finally add the buttermilk or sour milk.
Now sift the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix completely until it is smooth and free of lumps.
Divide the batter into your cake tins and place in the centre of your oven to bake for about 35 minutes.
When the cakes are done baking, remove them from the oven and turn the cakes out onto a wire cooling rack. You can frost them with any icing but nothing beats the coconut pecan icing below.
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Coconut Pecan Icing
In a heavy medium sized sauce pan lightly beat one egg with 5 oz of evaporated milk. Stir in 2/3 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup butter. Stirring over a moderate heat, cook the mixture about 12 minutes until it is thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 1/3 cups dessicated or flaked coconut and 1/2 cup chopped pecans until they are all mixed completely. Cover the pan and cool thoroughly. When it is cool, use this to ice the cake.
