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Dirt Cake

Chocolate Chip Cake Marguery

Refrigerate the grated chocolate.

Note about grating the chocolate: it should be grated into little chunks using the normal grater, not the rasp. As you grate it, it will simultaneously try to melt and become charged with static electricity. It is slightly easier if you refrigerate the ungrated chocolate and grate it onto a sheet of wax paper. Periodically tap the grated chocolate into a pyrex cup and keep refrigerated until needed. It is often easier if you occasionally rub your fingers on a piece of ice while you grate, which prevents the chocolate you're holding from melting as fast. If the chocolate is warm and the room is warm, the chocolate may melt into the batter when added, which will eliminate the desired "dirty" look of the finished cake. Refrigeration reduces (but does not always solve) this problem.

Cream the butter. Gradually cream in 1 cup of the sugar.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together, then add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. Blend in the vanilla.

Beat the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the remaining ¹/₃ cup sugar. Add the grated chocolate to the batter then quickly fold in the egg whites. Do not beat too much, especially if the room is warm. You want the chocolate to maintain its integrity and not just make faintly chocolate batter.

Bake in two greased and floured 8" round pans for 30-35 minutes at 350°F.

Fill layers with Chocolate Filling and frost with Seven Minute Frosting. Garnish with shaved semi-sweet chocolate.

This is a traditional special occasion cake in our family, ever since Granny, in her early teens, made it for her mother for Mother's Day from a recipe in a magazine. When Bob and Libby were young, Granny used to say that she put "dirt from the kitchen floor" into it, which is where it gets its name.