New Endeavours!: MMMMMMMM.....Chocolate Cake!

After an early start with the kiddos today (doctor's appointment at 8:00am and storytime at our local library at 10:00am), both little ones went down for what my sister and I like to call "group nap" time! I usually eat my own lunch during "group nap" and after I finished, I decided I wanted something sweet and chocolatey. A couple of months ago I tried out a random "best chocolate cake ever" Pinterest recipe, and indeed, it was the BEST chocolate cake! My husband and I LOVED it! It's light and fluffy and chocolatey! So I decided to try to make it again. It took about 20 minutes to gather all the ingredients and actually make the batter and put it into the oven. It all got done during "group nap"!

On a side note - I do usually like to bake when my 2 year old is awake so that she can help me and lick the spoon/bowl afterwards, but today I got a craving and chose not to wait and get it all done while they were both sleeping!

Also on a side note - if you have young kiddos and haven't been to your local library for storytime yet, you're truly missing out! Here in Jacksonville, each public library has a set day and time each week for storytime where the librarian sings songs, teaches some sign language, plays games/riddles, reads books with a theme, teaches a letter, and then ends with a craft of some sort. This is all FREE and lasts about 45min. As a teacher, I think this is amazing! It's a great enriching activity for your little one, especially if you're not the type to sing songs and do crafts at home! As a mom, it's even more amazing because it happens during my 2 month old's nap time and so I have time to just spend with the 2 year old singing, listening, and crafting. I also almost always bring lunch with me and try to feed my 2 year old afterwards when we go into the children's section of the library. The local South Mandarin Branch has a great children's area with amazing books, a train table, a farm set, a tea set, and white board with magnetic letters. She could spend hours in there, so I just try to keep it until she finishes lunch and then we head home. There are nice, comfy chairs in there where I can feed my 2 month old while watching the other one play! So again, if you haven't done this with your kiddo yet - go online and look up a day/time and GO! They even have some evening and weekend dates and times for those of you who are at work during the day.

So back to the chocolate cake...I realized while making it that I didn't have any buttercream and looked up a substitute for it online....just under 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar....who knew! So that's what I used! I did happen to already have all of the other ingredients in my cupboard and fridge, so that worked out! Also, I'm sure that the homemade frosting that's in this recipe is fabulous, but I decided to just go with a store bought one! It tasted fabulous last time and I think it'll be just as good this time too! LOL

Here's the Pinterest recipe I used:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/dessert/a14316/chocolate-cake-recipe/
I did have to tweak the baking time a little. My toothpicks didn't come out dry until around 35min in the oven. The recipe says 22-25min.

Here are some pics of what it looked like: