12 Days of Christmas - Day 9

The last time I made this Chocolate Sheath Cake recipe, I made it without a sifter. The instruction say to sift the box of powdered sugar that is part of the icing. I figured it wouldn't be such a big deal. WELL, it turned out to make tiny little chunks of powdered sugar. It tasted fine, but was a little weird to chomp through.

My foodie friend Allen was aghast when he found out that I didn't own a sifter. Well, for my apartment warming party (my party was to help "warm" my new space, but also celebrate the first time in my life that I was living alone. That's right. No family and better yet, no room mates!!!!), Allen was so sweet as to give me a sifter. Unfortunately, it was one of those "new-fangled" kinds with two sifting layers and a squeeze handle. So, pretty much, it took FOREVER to sift something and then was impossible to clean.

Not to worry though. I changed it for a "traditional" one and made this dessert again for the 9th day of Christmas.

(BTW...that's not snow by the cake. That's powdered sugar. What can I say? I'm messy!)

Only thing is, I wish I had room mates around for just a couple of minutes. I'm stuck with a lot of leftovers from all this baking! :)

Chocolate Sheath Cake (from my Mom’s Best Recipes Cookbook)

Mix together in large bowl, then set aside:

2 C sugar

2 C flour

Bring to rapid boil in pan, then blend while hot with flour & sugar:

1 stick butter (or margarine)

1/2 C Crisco

5 T cocoa

1 C water

1/2 t salt

Add to above mixture:

1/2 C buttermilk

1 t soda (stirred into buttermilk)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/2 t vanilla

Mix well and bake in a well-greased jelly roll pan (15 1/2 x 10) at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Frosting:

(Start 5 minutes before cake is done so it can be spread on cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.)

1 stick butter

4 t cocoa

1/3 C milk

Bring to a full boil. Remove from heat and add:

1# box of powdered sugar (SIFTED - trust me on this one)

1/8 t salt

1 t vanilla

1 C nuts (nuts optional)Bake well and prosper!