I'm late, late, late!!!!

I'd like to say it's for a very important date, but , no...I'm just plain old late!

First of all, it was my son's 17th birthday on Friday and we had his big party this weekend. I didn't have much time for creating (although I had hopes) but with a slew of very large, hungry boys in the house, what can you do? But I have to show you this...the ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!!!







I am not exaggerating. This cake has been the cake eaten at every birthday in my family for years. It is my Mother's recipe (I am not sure where she got it) and literally I have eaten it just about every birthday of my life. It is always the requested cake by my kids and my husband every year. It is the richest, moistest, most delicious chocolate cake you can imagine. BUT I have had a serious problem with it for years. The recipe is a jumble of ingredients and no directions. Over the years I have devised my own system and it comes out great, except for the part where it comes out of the pan. No matter what I do, it breaks. It sticks to the pan. I pray over it every time like someone at a funeral, wishing their loved one back to life. Seriously. And every year it breaks. So does my heart. I usually make triple the amount of chocolate butter frosting, piece the "road disaster cake bits" back together, and put forth a cake shaped object. Delicious, yes. Attractive, no. Nobody but me has ever cared.

But this is the absolute first time I have gotten the cake to pop right out of the pans!!!! See how it glistens! Nary a crumb was left in the pan!!! It was a birthday miracle!!!! "Behold, I give you...chocolate cake perfection!!!" I was just so happy to finally have created the perfect, stress free, delicious cake, nothing could have made me happier. Except of course wowing a group of boys out of their usual teenage stupor with the comment (in appropriately reverent, hushed tones): "is that your homemade chocolate cake?" Infamy!!!!!!!