Welcome to Chemical Cake

I initially created Chemical Cake as an homage to my grandmother’s unique early-70s chocolate cake recipe made from instant coffee, heavy cream, instant pudding, chocolate cake mix, and booze.

Many years ago, my grandmother baked a cake for her daughter’s birthday party.  Her daughter – my aunt – was a serious, raw fruit-eating vegan. My grandmother didn’t have a lot of experience cooking for this group and turned over control of the kitchen so they could make what they wanted.  She threw together what she called the chemical cake so that those of us looking for something a little more tasty and dangerous would have something to eat.

Of the two-buffet-tables worth of salad, raw vegetables, and fruit, her chemical cake was the first thing to disappear.  Here is that classic recipe.

Ingredients
1 Package dark chocolate cake mix.
2 tbls brandy
2 tbls instant coffee
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding
1 pint whipping cream

Directions
Cake
Make the cake mix and bake in 3 evenly divided cake pans.

Frosting
In a deep bowl, blend brandy and instant coffee.
Add instant pudding and blend.
Add cream and beat with electric beaters until semi-stiff.
It stiffens quickly, so stop before it turns to cement.
Frost cake-top with chocolate jimmies.

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