Grandma Ruth’s Vinegar Chocolate Cake

Happy Monday, Everybody!!

Does any else feel like Monday’s require chocolate cake?! I sure do. So here is a story and a delicious cake recipe as a prize for making it through this day of the week.

When my Grandma Ruth passed away, my grandpa gave my older sister her recipe file. Since I restarted this blog, my sister has been sending me photos of recipes to try – Look at that cursive script! All of her recipes are written out like this and you can tell the ones she loved the most by the oil stains and crumbs.

Grandma Ruth had a famous sweet tooth and anything chocolate was her dessert of choice! I made a vinegar chocolate cake for her birthday every year starting in high school. It is rich and (fun fact) VEGAN! The vinegar gives the cake its moisture and replaces the eggs you normally find in cake batter.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! I made cupcakes and served them with fresh whipped cream & sprinkles. I also tried to make a layer cake in a pie pan — it broke into pieces when I was trying to get it out of the pan. Can’t win them all.

Ingredients:

• 3 C flour
• 2 C sugar
• 6 Tbs cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 C salad oil
• 2 Tbs vinegar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 C water

Directions:

1. Sift together all the dry ingredients
2. Add wet ingredients to dry. “Mix only until dry ingredients are mixed well, do not over mix” – Grandma
3. Bake at 350 degrees. Test with a toothpick in the center
   • 25 minutes if using round cake tins (makes 3 layers)
   • 30-35 minutes if making an “oblong cake” – which I assume means a 9×13 pan
   • 22 (ish) minutes for cupcakes.

Tips & Tricks:

• As with all Grandma Ruth Recipes. Salad oil = light oil of your choice!

Chocolate (Peanut Butter) Blossoms

Today’s “Happy Cooking!” Recipe is another cookie!

Are you wondering, “What’s up with all the desserts?!” Well, I just got my very first Kitchenaid Mixer (THANK YOU LAUREN & COLIN!) I am honestly looking for reasons to use it daily. I also made a deal with Gio that, if we were going to be sheltering in place together for months on end, we would always have cookies on hand.

These peanut butter cookies were special growing up because we only made them at Christmas time. My job was always unwrapping the Hershey’s kisses and rolling the little dough balls in the sugar after the dough had been made.

Normally I like to tell you where the recipe originated, but for this one I truly don’t know! I even called my mom to see if she could find the original recipe card for a source. No such luck. So, if you are reading this, and this is your recipe – holla at your girl! I would love to express my gratitude for bringing this tasty creation into the world.

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  Dough size reference & Kitchen-Aid cameo!

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Reader challenge – can you find the “extra crispy” friend who was a result of multitasking with cookies in the oven?

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C shortening
• 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbs milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 C flour
• 1 tsp soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 48 chocolate kisses

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients (not kisses) to form a soft dough
2. Shape into balls
3. Roll in sugar
4. Place on non-stick cookie sheet
5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes
6. Remove from oven and top each cookie with a kiss immediately. Press down firmly.

Tips & Tricks

• The recipe for these is a bit sparse – but I find creaming my shortening and sugar together, then adding the egg, then the peanut butter, then the vanilla & milk and finally combining with the dry ingredients works best for me!
• As for size of dough balls. I was struggling with the proper analogy but am going to go with slightly smaller than ping-pong ball sized. Think back to college and then just go with your gut. The most important thing is to be consistent.
• As for peanut butter – Traditionally we went with a can a creamy Jif or Skippy. I have experimented with the organic versions with less sugar with good success as long as you mix the oil/peanut butter together well before you measure it out!