Are you ready? This is the BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe ever. Try this delightfully tasty recipe next time your sweet tooth kicks in.
My husbands Grandma Fuhriman and her sister Jeanie were amazing cooks. We loved to visit them both and I always enjoyed following them around their kitchens trying to help them cook and learn some of their delicious recipes. They were the cutest things and shared a special relationship with one another.
Disclaimer: This post does include affiliate links for your convenience. This is at NO additional cost to you but earns me a small commission. To read more, check out our disclosure policy.
The two of them always made this chocolate cake that everyone loved. The rumor is that Grandma made up the frosting and Jeanie made up the cake. They were always tweaking the recipe of both the cake and frosting. We have found at least 7 different versions of this recipe!
Aunt Jeanie, as we called her, lived near our Washington home and we’d see her often. She never forgot anyone’s birthday and always showed up with at least one of her chocolate cakes no matter the occasion. She had this way of making everyone feel like they were the most important person in the world and she was always happy and upbeat even though she had experienced the loss of her husband and three of her four children. Anyone who knew her had been given a chocolate cake at some point. Making this cake for someone was her way of saying that she loved you.
Grandma, who lived in Idaho passed away in 2013 and we were so sad to lose her. Aunt Jeanie lived ten minutes away from us in Washington. We had always been close to her but after losing Grandma, we loved spending time with her even more.
In the past year, Aunt Jeanie’s health had started declining. Her granddaughter, Tiffany, who is a photographer, reached out to me and we discussed getting together and making the cake with Jeanie. We knew her time was limited and we wanted to get some photos of her making the cake with me. I had been wanting to share the recipe on the blog as well as having those memories saved for her posterity. I also wanted her to share her tips on making this cake.
Tiffany and I arranged a day to make the cake with Jeanie but sadly, she was not up for it and passed away shortly thereafter. We were both so sad we had waited too long. The day before she passed away, I filmed my very first recipe video making her cake and wish I’d been able to show it to her before she passed. Over the Christmas holiday, Tiffany and her family came over to our home and we made the cake together and photographed it. It was nice to share this experience and reminisce about this sweet lady that we all loved so much.
Aunt Jeanies Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Frosting
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 5 tbsp butter
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup Marshmallows *optional
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts *optional
Instructions
- CAKE
- In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups sugar. Then sift the 2 cups flour and 4 tbsp cocoa powder into the bowl. Sifting the flour and cocoa is an important step so don't skip it!
- Then add the 1/2 cup butter on top of the sifted ingredients.
- Put the 1 cup water and the 2/3 cup vegetable oil in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour all at once over the flour, sugar, and cocoa mixture.
- Stir until well combined.
- Add the 2 eggs, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp vanilla and stir until smooth.
- Spray the baking dish with cooking spray. Pour into a 9×13 cake pan or large cookie sheet and bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes or until the cake bounces back when touched lightly in the middle. Don't overbake.
Frosting
- Put the 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup milk, and 5 tbsp butter into a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Do not boil for more than 20 seconds. Remove from heat and add the 2 cups milk chocolate chips. Stir until dissolved and then add the 1 tsp vanilla and stir again. If using the marshmallows and/or the chopped nuts, add those in and gently stir. Immediately pour onto the cake and spread. This sets ups fast so work quickly.
- This is best if made the day ahead. Allow at least 6-8 hours to set up if possible.
And there you have it, The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever! I hope you’ll love this cake as much as our family does and I know Aunt Jeanie and Grandma Fuhriman are up in heaven smiling down knowing their special cake and frosting are still being made and enjoyed by so many. I hope to follow in her footsteps and continue Jeanie’s tradition of making this cake as a way of sharing my love for everyone in my life.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Fife Buckmiller, Aunt Jeanies granddaughter.
xoxo
Holly
PIN THIS FOR LATER:
What a sweet post. I love family recipes and traditions. Thank you so much for sharing. Will be making soon
Thank you Cindy! This one is extra special to me! Please let me know if you make the cake and if you have any questions!
Holly
Thank you for the excellent recipe and for paying homage to your aunt. I used to share with her our Sacrament meeting. We tasted her delicious cake when we visited her with my husband.
She will be forever in our hearts.
Thank you for sharing that with me Stella! That means so much to me! She was a special lady!
What a wonderful family recipe to share! I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Debbie! Let me know how it goes!!
“Excellent blog you have got here.. It’s difficult to find
quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate people like you!
Take care!!”
Regards
rose martine
Thank you Rose!
Love this soup. I use half the flour and it turned out perfectly for our preference. Thanks for the recipe. Everyone at my party loved it and ive made it twice since then. Frozen chicken is perfect for this recipe at four hours on high.
https://yourfavoritecrafts.com/crafts-make-sell-profit/
My kids are grown, but when they were younger they liked to help me bake, especially cookies. I love baking cookies, but decorating them isn’t my “thing”, so sprinkles, icing, etc was their “job”. We also liked to make pizzas and would put out bowls of toppings so they could make their own with whatever they wanted on them.
Regards Hannah Flack
I know this is an older post Holly. I had to comment. What a precious story. Thank you for sharing. I’ll have to try this out. One of the things I miss after my mama passed away was all the recipes. Due to a series of unfortunate events, I have 2 handwritten recipes from mama out of decades worth. They just vanished. I’m actually glad to have a family recipe of yours. It will go in my book💞
Thats so sweet Tracey!Thanks so much for sharing that with me. Family recipes are the best thing aren’t they. I’m sorry you didn’t get many of your mamas recipes.I’d be heartbroken if I didn’t have some of these. You will love aunt Jeannies cake. She was an angel on earth and now is an angel in heaven. Make sure you try grandma Jolley’s strawberry pie and the peach pie recipe too! They are amazing!
I have a similar recipe but see several different ingredients. Looks and sounds delicious.
CrazyAsk
Hi Ashley!
My mom has a similar recipe as well and she calls her’s Texas chocolate sheet cake! I think there are quite a few variations of this but they are all so good!
What a beautiful way to share a recipe telling a story about how you learned to make a cake . I can’t wait to make it and bake this cake with my daughters !!
Thanks so much Lexi! It’s such a great cake and it brings back the fondest memories of our sweet Aunt Jeannie! She passed about 5 years ago and we sure miss her!