Down in the Dumps Cake

When I was a little girl, my mom made this recipe and when she was a little girl, her Grandma and Aunt Neetsa made it. My mom has told me her memories of eating this yummy dessert while watching slides and 8 mm movies of their latest family vacations (camping trips usually) with their friends the Zimmers. Mom is one of 10 kids and the Zimmers had 6 kids so these two family picture-nights were no small gatherings. This dessert is so rich it can feed a small army. My memories of it are at home with our family and sometimes with company. I remember my own Grandma making chocolate pudding with ice cream so it also reminds me of her. =0)



Nothing healthy about it unless you use the chopped nuts! This chocolate cake is made by pouring hot water over top of it and then the cake bakes up on the top and the rest turns into a hot pudding underneath waiting to be uncovered. I've made this many times in my oven according the directions below but this time I made it in my crock-pot while we were out to dinner. We had company coming back to our house for dessert and when we got back it was ready and waiting for us! Crock-pot directions are at the bottom of this post....



but first just to be sure this is the longest recipe post EVER, my early married story of making this dessert was taking it to a church meeting which we were late to. My ever so skillful driving husband was taking turns quite sharply in order to make up for our being late and I cringed as I knew my hot pudding would most likely not withstand all the tipping while it was sitting on the back seat of our car. Somewhere in the world, that car probably still has a chocolate pudding stain on the back seat....try as we did, we could never soak it all up. So, consider yourself warned before trying to transport this dessert! My lesson learned, DON'T transport a dessert with the word "dump" in the name of the recipe!

Original Recipe:



BATTER:

Mix together-

2 c flour

4 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt



Blend in-

1 cup milk

4 tbsp veg. oil

2 c chopped walnuts (optional)



Pour batter into an ungreased glass 9x13 baking dish.



PUDDING:

In another bowl mix together-

2 c brown sugar

1/2 c cocoa powder

Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the batter.



Pour 3 c hot water over the top of brown sugar and batter.



Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. Let cool about one hour. The water makes a chocolate pudding underneath the baked chocolate cake. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream while watching family videos.



Crock-pot cooking instructions:

Coat crock with butter before putting batter in.

Cook on high heat for 2-2 1/2 hours. (it's very forgiving so if you cooked it for 3 hours it would probably be fine)

Let cool for about 30 min. or so out of the heating element.



You can make this in a dutch oven over coals as well!

BBQed Corn on the Cob

My daughter loves corn on the cob. It's one of her favorite foods. On nights when we BBQ it's easiest to just BBQ the corn right along side the meat.

First pull back the husk gently just enough to remove the stringy fibers. Fold the husk back around the cob and soak it in water for about an hour or so. Then drain the water and BBQ the cob for about 15 min. or so. Pull the husk back to be used as a handle, roll in a stick of butter, salt and it's ready to eat.

Forgotten Short Ribs

This recipe is from my mom and so I've included her notes. We've made it twice this summer up at Grandpa's cabin in the dutch oven but you can put it in your crock pot just as well.

From Carol's Kitchen:
(My recipe is an adaptation of one from the Sunset Favorite Recipes Cookbook 1969. I started making this dish when I got my first crock pot which was back in those early years of marriage. I used to set the table and put this on to cook in the early morning when I had a busy day ahead of me or if we were going to be gone all day we could come home to a supper nearly ready. I can still remember a long day of playing in the snow with our kids and coming home to this wonderful smell and hearty meal to warm us up. When you get home and walk in the door put on a pot of small white or red rose potatoes, throw some veggies on, pull out some dinner rolls and in about 30 minutes you are asking the blessing before you dig in. If you can't find some nice short ribs you can use a chuck roast that you cut up.)

CATEGORY: BEEF/ MAIN DISH

INGREDIENTS

4-5 Pounds of Beef Short Ribs 3 Tbsp. Cider Vinegar
½ tsp. Garlic Powder 2 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp. Pepper 1/2 Onion diced small
2 cans (8 oz.) Tomato Sauce 1 Tbsp. Organic Sugar
3 Tbsp. Molasses

DIRECTIONS

Remove any excess fat from ribs that you can. If you are using a boneless chuck roast, cut into about 4x4" chunks. Pepper all sides. Spray your crock with PAM and place ribs in on low heat. In a small pan, combine the tomato sauce with the molasses, cider vinegar, liquid smoke, minced onion and sugar; bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for five minutes. Pour over the short ribs; cover and cook 8-10 hours. Have a great day! When you're ready to eat spoon off any excess fat before serving. Total prep time in morning is about 15 minutes.

notes: when making this in a dutch, use a 12 inch deep and first brown for just a few minutes the short ribs in some vegetable oil. Cover with the lid. Place about 4-6 charcoal briquettes nderneath the dutch and about 6-8 on top. You want it to just simmer for about 8 hours but not rapid bowl. Just a few bubbles coming through for a simmer is all you need. Remove a few briquettes if you need to get it down to a simmer.