Perfect Chocolate Cake

Monarch butterflies, my mother's flower garden, and family birthdays are just a few of my childhood memories. For our birthdays, my father brought my sisters and me a single flower from the local florist and my mother a beautiful bouquet of fragrant yellow roses, her favorite. 


My mother made us a cake of our choice and my dad McCall's Perfect Chocolate Cake for his birthday.   



Serves 10 - 12


Cake ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsifted, unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 2 3/4 cups
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting ingredients:

  • 1 6-ounce package semisweet chocolate pieces
  • 1/2 cup light cream
  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 1/2 cups unsifted powdered sugar


Filling ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
  • 1/4 cup unsifted powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


To make the cake:

In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa with the boiling water, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Cool completely! Sift the flour with the baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Grease and then lightly flour three 9-inch round cake pans.

With a mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light, about 5 minutes. At low speed, beat in the flour mixture in fourths, alternately with the cocoa mixture, in thirds (beginning and ending with the flour mixture.) Don’t overbeat the batter!

Divide evenly into the pans, smoothing the tops. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently touched. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the layers from the pans with a spatula, remove from the pans, and cool on racks.

To make the frosting:

Combine the semisweet chocolate pieces, cream, and butter in a medium saucepan, stirring over medium heat until smooth. Remove from heat, and blend in 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar with a whisk. In a bowl set over ice (especially in August!), beat until it holds shape.

To make the filling:

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla. Refrigerate.

To assemble the cake:

On a plate, place a layer, top down. Spread with half the filling. Place the second layer atop, top-down, and spread with the remaining filling. Top with the third layer, topside up!

To finish the cake:

Frost with a spatula, sides first. Swirl the rest of the frosting on top. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Use a thin-edged sharp knife to cut.


Recipe from McCall's Cooking School Cookbook.



Perfect Pie Crust

Makes one 8-inch pie crust 

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cold butter (cut into four pieces)
  • 1/4 cup ice water (at the most)

1.    Assemble the ingredients.

2.    Preheat the oven to 400 F.

3.    Combine the flour and salt. Cut the COLD butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the ICE water over the dough, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing briskly with a fork until the mixture holds together. 

4.    Press the dough into a flat round and place it on a lightly floured pastry cloth or floured rolling surface of your choice. Flatten the round slightly from the center close to the edge, but without flattening the edge, leaving it raised somewhat. This will help prevent the edge from becoming too thin and developing large cracks as you roll it. 

5.    Quickly roll the dough out from the center in all directions equally, never quite rolling to the edge – again to protect the edge. Turn the dough slightly to prevent it from sticking to the rolling surface as you roll, adding flour if necessary. Roll evenly and with a sure hand until the circle is round and one inch larger than the pie plate, approximately 1/8 inch thick. Flour the top lightly. 

6.    Gently fold the rolled dough in half, lift the folded crust into the pie plate, unroll it, and gently fit it into the pan. 

7.    Trim the crust evenly to one-half inch beyond the edge of the pie pan, and then fold the extra crust under and pinch into a decorative shape or crimp flat with floured fork tines.

8.    To par-bake the pie crust, preheat the oven to 400º F. Line the crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil, shiny side down. Weight with dried beans or pie weights. 

9.    Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom is set and the edges are slightly browned. Remove the paper or foil and weights for fruit fillings and brush the bottom crust with an egg white wash; bake another 2 minutes. The egg white wash will seal the bottom crust.

10.    For a baked single crust, prick holes in the pie crust, called docking, and bake, adding 5 to 7 minutes more to the baking time until the crust turns amber and begins to pull from the pie plate. 

Note: This is the crust I use for Two Good Strawberry Pies – Fresh Strawberry Pie and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.


Apple Slices

My mother made Apple Slices throughout my childhood. I was one of seven children, so a sheet pan of Apple Slices lasted just two days in our household. It was served a few hours after baking on the first day while still warm. Then, after overnight refrigeration, we ate more the following day. It was delicious, both warm from the oven and cold from the refrigerator. 


Serves 15 to 20


For the filling:

3 pounds tart cooking apples
1 cup water
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the pastry crust:

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup lard*
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup water

To make the filling:  

Bring the water, sugar, cinnamon, and salt just to a boil.  Add the apple slices and lower the temperature, cooking slowly for 10 minutes.  Blend the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water; add to the apple mixture and stir.  Cool for 5 minutes, stirring gently.

To make the pastry crust: 

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the lard into the sifted ingredients. Mix the lemon juice, egg yolk, and water and sprinkle over the flour mixture. Blend lightly, forming a soft dough.  Divide the pastry dough into two parts, one part just larger than the other.

Roll the larger piece of pastry dough to fit a 9 x 13 x 2-inch sheet cake pan and line the pan with the pastry crust.  Fill with the cooled apple mixture.  Roll the remaining dough to fit the top; cover the filling with the top crust and seal the edges.  Cut simple vents or a design in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 F for 20 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350 F and bake 30 minutes longer.

Ice the Apple Slices with a thin powdered sugar icing.  This dessert is excellent, warm from the oven (allow to cool first) and cold from the refrigerator.

* Lard is a monounsaturated fat, as are avocado, olive, peanut, and sesame oils for reference. Vegetable shortening may be used in place of the lard.