Categories: cakes

Ingredients

• For the Cake:
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup canola or other vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Frosting:
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk (whole, 2% or skim - doesn't matter)
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 pound confectioners sugar, sifted (about 4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease and flour a 13×9×2-inch baking pan.

2. Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon, and set aside.

3. Stir together the remaining ingredients.

4. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, stirring until you have a smooth, rather thin batter.

5. Pour into your prepared pan, and bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting

7. Mix the milk and cocoa in a heavy saucepan (stir, stir, stir). Add the butter and, over medium heat, stir until the butter melts. Remove from heat and gradually stir in the sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the pecans.

8. When the cake is just out of the oven, spread the frosting evenly on the hot cake.

9. Being a chocolate freak, I use just a half-teaspoon of cinnamon in this cake. I want the cinnamon flavor to come through, but I don’t want it to overpower the chocolate.

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