Chocolate cake to bake for your valentine
Boxes of Valentine chocolates fill store shelves, but could there be any better gift from the heart than something homemade?
My friend and former coworker Cindy Pare made this chocolate cake and brought it to the paper one day a few decades ago. And, being such a generous person and fabulous cook, she shared her recipe. Since then, it’s been a treasured recipe in my files. It’s one my daughters and now grandchildren also ask for most every birthday.
As an admitted chocoholic, I love it because it satisfies that chocolate craving when it hits unexpectedly. It’s the perfect remedy because it’s so easy to make.
The cake itself doesn’t really need any icing — it’s so moist with the addition of buttermilk and sour cream. But what person addicted to chocolate can resist licking a bowl with chocolate icing clinging to its sides?
Here’s Cindy’s recipe.
Cindy Pare’s Chocolate Sheet Cake
Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk (full fat if
you can find it)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream (full fat)
Icing:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup cocoa
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 box (about 3 1/2 cups)
powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
For cake: Combine flour and sugar; set aside. In a saucepan, combine butter, cocoa and water and bring to a strong simmer, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over flour and sugar and beat together until smooth. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in sour cream. Pour batter into a greased 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, just until cake tests done.
For icing: Bring butter, cocoa and milk to a boil. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cake.
FRESH MARKET MEALS
This Valentine’s Day, The Fresh Market is making it easy for guests to stock up and make the day delicious and fun for everyone from groups of two to an entire family. The specialty food retailer’s fully prepped, ready-to-cook meals will help you spread the love with ease. You can order until 2 p.m. Feb. 13 for pickup on Valentine’s Day. Choose from:
› A Valentine’s Meal for Two for $60 with a choice of Chateaubriand-cut filet mignon, lump crab cakes or wild North Atlantic lobster tail. Entrees come with a choice of mascarpone whipped potatoes with rosemary, asparagus with red peppers, eight hand-dipped chocolate strawberries or a dozen roses.
The Valentine’s Prime Rib Meal for Two is $50 and includes fullycooked prime rib, mascarpone whipped potatoes, a medley of green beans and horseradish aioli.
› Valentine’s Day Brunch for four is $25 and includes quiche Lorraine, broccoli cheddar quiche or spinach tomato quiche. Also, market-style bacon, tropical fruit and blueberry muffins. Get more details at thefreshmarket. com.
› Put some extra romance on the table with The Fresh Market’s Sweetheart Rib-Eye, aged 14 days and hand-cut and butterflied in the shape of a heart.
Or choose the heartshaped crab cake made exclusively for The Fresh Market, 2288 Gunbarrel Road.
ROMANTIC ROAD TRIP
Several Chattanoogaarea restaurants have Valentine’s Day menus planned, but if you want to take in a scenic drive, consider a romantic dinner at one of the seven Tennessee State Parks restaurants. The closest to Chattanooga is Fall Creek Falls State Park.
The Restaurant at Fall Creek Falls, 2536 Lakeside Drive in Spencer, offers lunch and dinner on Feb. 14. Lunch hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and dinner 4-8 p.m. (all times are Central). The price is $39 per person, plus tax, gratuity and beverage. Reservations are not required but welcome. Call 423-881-5241.
The three-course menu features sirloin tips and blackened chicken over chipotle Alfredo penne. Wines and domestic and premium beers are offered. The regular menu also will be available.