I’ve baked this chocolate cake for every birthday for every child and friend for years and years. It’s dark, rich, and has a flavor all its own. Try this featured Women’s Day Magazine recipe that everyone will ask you for!
In honor of National Chocolate Cake Day, I give a nod to my late mother-in-law, Mary Jane Morgan, and the legacy chocolate cake she passed down to me from her mother, Irene Seeley.
I remember traveling with my firstborn, Trey, to visit George’s parents in September 1979.
Trey turned two that visit, and Mary Jane made chocolate cupcakes turned into clowns using ice cream cones as hats and candies for their faces. Trey was delighted and I noticed something funny.
Hubby, George, would sneak into the fridge and scoop from a bowl spoonful of left-over frosting again and again and again.
Mary Jane shared the cake recipe and I’ve baked it for every birthday for every child and friend for years and years.
I’ve made it as a sheet cake, a two-layer round cake, and a four-layer square cake. The frosting is so gooey that the more layers you try the more the cake slides to one side or another leaving it a tiered cake or as my sons refer to it the AVALANCHE cake!
No matter how it looks, the cake is incredible. It’s dark, rich, and has a flavor all its own.
The secret ingredient is black walnut flavoring. McCormick produced this essence until ten or so years ago when it was dropped. Lovers of the cake would ransack their grandmother’s pantry for stored bottles of the stuff. We found quite a few that way!
Today, Amazon will give you a good selection of choices when you search, and I’ve tried them all. It works!
This is truly our family’s legacy cake. It was featured in Women’s Day magazine when my first book was published in 2000.
In honor of National Chocolate Cake Day, I will share with you the short-cut secret to making this cake for your family.
Yes, it is a departure from the original, but I’m sure both Mary Jane and Irene will approve of this modernization.
Jorj’s Mahogany Cake (The Lava Legacy)
Servings
6-8
Ready In:
30-35 Minutes Until You’re Ready
Good For:
Everything!
Ingredients
- Devil’s Food Cake recipe or boxed mix
- ¾ cup Sprite
- ¾ cups brewed coffee
- 4 tablespoons of black walnut flavoring
- 6 cups of confectioners’ sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- ⅓ cup milk or cream
Jorj’s Mahogany Cake (The Lava Legacy)
Start with a Devil’s food cake recipe.
In place of water, use ¾ cup Sprite and ¼ cup brewed coffee.
Add 2 tablespoons of black walnut flavoring.
Continue as directed on the box and bake as either cupcakes or any version of your favorite layer cake. Cool the cakes.
For the frosting:
- Add 6 cups of confectioners’ sugar into the bowl of your electric mixer
- Add ¾ cup cocoa powder and ¼ teaspoon salt
- Mix in 4 tablespoons melted butter, ½ cup brewed coffee, 2 tablespoons black walnut flavoring, and ⅓ cup milk or cream
- Mix this all together, scraping down the sides
Home Chef Tip!
If the frosting is too loose, add more sugar. If it’s too tight, add more milk. Keep a can of prepared chocolate frosting on hand just to be safe
Tried it? Tag it!
I would love to see what you did with this recipe. Share your creation on social media with #inthekitchenwithjorj and be sure to show us in my free private home cooking group, Scrumptious Possibilities With Jorj!
