Happy birthday to our one and only girl, who brings so much sweetness to our lives.

Falling on election day , I can only wish that her birthday greetings for good fortune and double happiness will spill over to the polls and bring us to a positive phase in our American experience...


"Hurry up Mom, let's vote before *bleep* wins!"
So I have, and I was thrilled to see so many people there, to see they care. It might have been the location (church basement) but there seemed to be a hush, a sense of awe.
It's going to be a long haul, hopefully with no glitches. Meantime I'm going to blog this cake I've made 3 times within the last week, so often I think I can make it in my sleep. This is our daughter's favorite chocolate cake.
A Cake for an Election Birthday,adapted from Rosie's Baking Book:
Preheat oven to 345F.
Line 2 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper circles, then brush with butter.

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Mix 12 tbsp. of Dutch-processed cocoa with 4 tbsp. of melted butter; or, melt 4 oz. of unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water just till melted. Cool.
In a large mixing bowl, mix 2 cups sugar, 1 &1/2 cups flour, 3/4 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk thoroughly 1 cup hot strong brewed coffee, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup canola (or other vegetable) oil and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract.
Pour coffee mixture into dry ingredients and mix until blended, scraping down bowl.
Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping bowl after each addition.
Mix in cocoa or melted chocolate and stir well just until batter is uniformly blended.
Pour into prepared pans (batter will be a bit runny) and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cake will puff up then sink and pull away from sides of pan.
Cool in pans, invert into plastic wrap-lined plates, then frost(our favorite is the mocha whipped cream, see in the cupcake post below).
This recipes also makes 28 cupcakes.