Bishop Chocolate Cake is a recipe based on a bond of friendship. A family favorite, it is a recipe I remember from my childhood. This moist chocolatey cake is easy to make and easy to transport. It is also a crowd pleaser, a basic recipe favored by children and adults alike.
The Roots of Independence
July 4th is a holiday that is steeped in nostalgia. The day commemorates the birth of our nation, the roots of our national independence. It also reminds us of our own roots, entwined with and fed by connections to our past.
On the Fourth of July I remember gathering with family on long lazy summer afternoons for picnics, conversation and some occasional fireworks. Those gatherings were sun soaked opportunities to catch up and renew bonds of family and friendship over ample meals of fried chicken or barbecue, summer salads, watermelon and tempting desserts.
This cake recipe is based on that bond of friendship. A family favorite, it is a recipe I remember from my childhood. I have enjoyed it at many a family picnic or potluck over the years. This moist chocolatey cake is easy to make and easy to transport. It is also a crowd pleaser, a basic recipe favored by children and adults alike.
The original recipe was given to me by Aunt Hen. Aunt Hen got it from a friend she had known for many years. While the cake may or may not be her friend’s original creation she made it often and her name has been attached to this cake in the vernacular of my family for as long as I can remember.
Moist and Fudgy – Our Bishop Chocolate Cake
In my family a Bishop Chocolate Cake is a simple cake made with cocoa powder and covered with a fudgy chocolate frosting that is poured over the cake while it is hot. This cuts down on the number of steps involved and time spent in the kitchen. While the whole cake, fully frosted, rests to cool, the cook can attend to the rest of the meal or any other details that need to be accomplished before the cake is served.
The original recipe was wonderfully simple and tasty but over the past forty years my tastes have grown to prefer recipes with less sugar as well as less fat where possible. I have also come to expect a richer infusion of cocoa. As a result I have updated the original recipe somewhat.
It isn’t what I would call a particularly health conscious chocolate cake. There are recipes for those elsewhere, (a Sunflower Chocolate Cake, for example.) Still I did cut a half cup of fat and half cup of sugar from the original while using some brown sugar in place of some of the white. I like the taste a little better and with that rich fudgy icing they really aren’t missed at all.
Bishop Chocolate Cake
Course: Dessert15
servings15
minutes35
minutes50
minutesThe fudgy frosting for this cake is poured over the top while it is hot, keeping time spent in the kitchen to a minimum.
Ingredients
- Chocolate Cake:
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar (180g or 6.6 oz)
1/2 cup white sugar (100g or 3.5oz)
1/2 cup cocoa powder (45g or 1.6oz)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup tap water
2 cups plain flour (284g or 10oz)
- Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 pound confectioners’ sugar (453g)
Directions
- Chocolate Cake:
- Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add sugar, cocoa, salt, eggs, and vanilla.
- Add water and buttermilk alternately with flour ( Add 1/2 cup liquid, then 1 cup flour. Repeat and end with the liquid.) Beat well after each addition.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350F until cake comes away from the sides of the pan, about 35 minutes. (I baked mine in a glass pan and lowered the temperature to 325F accordingly. It took a few minutes longer that way with a total baking time of 38 minutes.)
- Prepare frosting to pour on cake as soon as you remove it from the oven.
- Chocolate Frosting:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, milk and cocoa powder. Bring this mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately add the confectioners’ sugar, whisking until smooth.
- Pour the hot frosting over the cake as soon as you remove the cake from the oven. Let cake and frosting cool at the same time.
- Enjoy!
This looks like a wonderful overload of chocolate goodness. That's what we're talking about!
You should have thrown some zucchini in the mix 🙂
Beautiful cake, dear!
I really loooove how you did the frosting on top, very elegant!
I have a little something for you over on my blog today… portlandpeeps.blogspot.com/
I hope you're staying cool!
You had me at hello with this one! Yum! I'm going to get a rag to clean up the drool.
I feel a chocolate craving coming on… that cake looks incredible!
I love those kinds of cake — good, old-fashioned yumminess!
i don't really care for this. chocolate frosting on chocolate cake? no thanks.
good lord, can you imagine if i was serious? 🙂
Oh yum. That looks like my kind of cake.
Oh boy, I bet that fudgy chocolate frosting is fantastic poured over the hot cake. That way it soaks in a bit. This recipe is making my mouth water, Lisa. Can't wait to try it.
Happy holiday.