Chocolate Chip Cake

This delicious chocolate chip cake recipe is a tried-and-true family favorite and a go-to for a winning bake-off recipe!

This recipe is my grandma’s, but my mom made it a lot when I was growing up. She didn’t tell me her secret ingredients until I loved it too much to care that there were dates in it. Man, do I hate dates. I’m not sure what happens to them in this recipe though- they are magically transformed into chocolatey goodness that doesn’t resemble dates in the slightest!

It’s an ugly cake. I mean, it’s just a plain old chocolate cake, and it’s sweet enough without frosting. I was hoping my photos could adequately convey how delicious it is. My mom used to lay paper lace doilies on top, just before serving, and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. When she removed the paper lace it really was pretty. Plus it routinely won our church bake-offs each year… I love beautiful desserts, but for this one it truly is the inside that counts! Plus it is ridiculously easy to make.  Here’s how: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of pitted and chopped dates
• 1 cup of hot water
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 cup of margarine
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini- chips because it was all I had- and they worked great!)

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees and spray a cake pan with non-stick spray.
• In a medium bowl, combine the dates, water and baking soda, and allow the dates to soak while you put the rest of the ingredients together.
• Cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs and blend together.
• Add dry ingredients (except for chocolate chips) and blend well.
• At the end, add date and water mixture. Blend well and add chocolate chips.
• Pour into cake pan and bake 40-50 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

Our family recipe made me smile. Oleo (??) is margarine… and bake “til done” is nice too. Gotta love the way grandmas bake! This is my mom’s recipe card and she graciously added  “40 minutes” at some point in the history of making this cake for us.

My thoughts: Well, I love this cake. It is so moist and sweet (probably from those dreaded dates!) and it genuinely doesn’t need frosting. (As a frosting addict, that is saying something!) This is SO easy to put together and it is great served warm with a little ice cream! Yum… I hope you get a chance to try it and make it one of your family favorites!  Enjoy! ~r

Other family tried-and-true recipes~ just click on a picture to see the recipe:

Need a fun and unique gift idea? Easybaked has adorable boxed sets of notecards. They have an Easybaked dessert photo on the front and a recipe on the back! The come in a cute box and the best part? They are ON SALE for Christmas, include free shipping and the site that is hosting them offers $10 off a $50 purchase! Enjoy!!! (Click on photo for more information)