Small Miracle Chocolate Cake

A cake so easy a 3-year-old can make it

Kids like to cook. The more you engage them in kitchen activities, the more you help to build their culinary efficacy. Yes, I can cook. It’s easy.

Kirk made the cake for his party on Saturday. We practiced it during the week and he was well prepared. It helped that it was the simplest cake ever. But it was a cake and it was made from scratch.

I found the recipe on Mark Bittman’s excellent Substack blog, The Bittman Project. His promotion gave the recipe validity. I used to have a copy of Peg Bracken’s The I Hate to Cook Book, but I never tried any recipes.  I did enjoy her edgy tone and humor. Bracken was irreverent about what were considered women’s domestic duties. She worked as an advertising copywriter in the 1950s with Homer Groening, father of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. The I Hate to Cook Book released in 1960 addresses the dilemma women faced in those days to provide meals three times a day and look happy about it. Her recipes provided shortcuts and forgiveness.

The beauty of Bracken’s recipe for Cockeyed Cake, besides the fact that it contains no eggs and no dairy products, is that you mix it up in the cake pan that it bakes in so clean up is simple, even with a 3-year-old. Flour is sifted with cocoa powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt, then oil, vinegar, and vanilla get poured into little wells you make on top. Add a cup of water, stir well, and voila!

Kirk sifts the dry ingredients together in a strainer, adds the wet, and then mixes it up.

The weather was bright and sunny on Saturday for the Alphabet Party and we set up in the yard for the scavenger hunt. A bubble maker provided airborne levity and the four 3-year-olds ran around the yard finding the letters hanging in the trees and tucked away behind rocks.

In addition to the cake, snacks included veggies with Ranch and Roasted Red Pepper Dips, Hummus with Pita Chips, and John's Guacamole. Kirk put on his "happy" face for the photo.

While the menfolk stood in a circle near a cold firepit, the mamas kept close eyes on the rambling kids. Iris, 14 months, enjoyed toddling around grabbing pita chips and carrots that were within her grasp.

Sunny day alphabet puzzle and a roaming Iris.

The party was held from 4 to 6 in the afternoon to accommodate naps so dinner was in order. The kids enjoyed an alphabet macaroni and cheese dish while chili and cornbread sustained the adults.

Kirk and Penelope enjoy a table for two with a view.

The chili was rescued at the 11^th hour by a find from Rose’s cupboard. Hot pepper jelly from a former PA neighbor now living in Oregon, saved the day. Jenny Fisher’s Habanero Gold provided the sweet heat the chili needed. The party went out in a blaze!

Hot Pepper Jelly given by a friend during the holidays provided just the right amount of heat.