Hot Fudge Cake and a Cherry on Top

My family expects at least one dessert a week. I try to do something special on Sundays. It is quite hard to get up early, get Sunday dinner started, shower, get dressed, read a devotional, and get to church by 10 am. Therefore, I bake our dessert the night before or use one of my beloved cake mixes. It seems that as they have grown older, everyone has a newly found love for chocolate. This Hot Fudge Cake originally came from one of my early 1980's Southern Living cookbooks and uses a devil's food cake mix.

Personally, I believe that cake mixes and self rising flour were the best creations of the 20th century. My mother, a real South Georgia farm girl, most always used cake mixes, but made her icing from scratch. Her philosophy was that icing makes the cake. She also rolled out dumplings from canned biscuits and used self rising flour most of the time. She was a teacher and had to make the most of her meal preparation time, while pleasing a picky husband. He needed three meals a day, would not touch leftovers, and always wanted a dessert after supper. 

I'm sure that your family will love this Hot Fudge Cake - served while warm with vanilla bean ice cream. Don't get me wrong, the room temperature leftovers are delicious as well. 

Hot Fudge Cake

1 package devil's food cake mix without pudding

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 cups very hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Vanilla Ice Cream

Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into a 13 X 9 glass pan that has been sprayed lightly with  Baker's Joy. Mix together the next three ingredients and pour over the batter - this mixture will sink to the bottom of the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Top with Vanilla Ice Cream. Don't forget a cherry on top of the ice cream, or two or three for your little ones.