Chocolate Football Cake

       Our Super Bowl party is just two days away! Still confined home with the crazy Dallas winter we’ve been having, I have had lots of time to bake (although I am running out of baking supplies, and am not too keen on the idea of driving on the icy roads to get some more groceries!).

      Today’s project is a football cake. I used a football-shaped cake pan that I bought from Wilton many years ago (and they still make it), and filled it with my favorite chocolate cake recipe. This is a recipe I got from my brother-in-law, Jimmy, many years ago. It’s one that he came up with himself. It’s the moistest, most delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted. Here’s the recipe, in case you’d like to try it:

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

2 cups granulated sugar (I use Baker’s Sugar)

1 3/4 cups unbleached white flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup strong coffee, cooled slightly

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans, one 13x9x2 inch baking pan, or a Wilton football pan.  In large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 min. Stir in Coffee. Batter will be thin. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 min. for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min.; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with your favorite frosting.

      I’ll be getting the cake out of the oven in a couple minutes. I’ll let it cool and wrap it over night, and then I’ll decorate it tomorrow (Saturday) night. This cake is so moist that you can bake it 2-3 days before serving and it still tastes fresh—like you’d just baked it the day you served it. But with so many food items to make before the Super Bowl party, I’ve been baking whatever I can in advance, so that I don’t have too many last-minute items to deal with.

      I just looked outside and it’s snowing again. Heavy sigh. I love the snow. Winter is one of my favorite times of the year. But we’re beginning to wonder when Dallas’ crazy winter weather is going to end. I just hope the weather warms up and the roads clear up enough for our guests to travel to our Super Bowl party Sunday afternoon. I am sure I am not the only one in Dallas concerned about Sunday’s weather.