Anyone else craving chocolate? I find that with winter hanging around far too long (I mean, we had wind chills and snow squalls last Saturday.. But that’s climate change for you), chocolate just seems so appealing, and really has been beckoning me. So I obliged and made THIS chocolate cake. It reminds me of the Linda’s fudge cake from the Cheesecake factory. (I love it when I make something I feel is on par with a famous restaurant, bakery etc). This cake is pretty rich, so I kept it to one layer. You can double it if you want and make a double layer cake, should you choose. Couple of recipe notes – If you don’t have chocolate extract, you can use vanilla. You can omit the chocolate chips, use another flavor, or toss in some walnuts. Once a month, I open a new baking soda to make sure it is fresh (and will work properly in your fecipe) also, scoop your flour from your flour container into your measuring cup.. And remember to preheat your oven for 20 minutes to get the right temperature.

• Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions – preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. combine butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and extract. Stir in dry ingredients. Add water and slowly stir until batter is just blended (don’t overmix). Stir in chips. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. (Toothpick inserted in center comes out with some moist crumbs). Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan, bottom side up, on a cake platter and cool completely.

• Frosting ingredients
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 2 tbs sugar

Directions – heat cream to a simmer. Pour over chips. Whisk smooth. Add sugar. Spread over cooled cake. (If you feel frosting is too thin, you can let it sit at room temp for a bit, or add a tbs or two of powdered sugar to thicken it up). Store frosted cake in covered container.