The Perfect Chocolate Cake for an Eagle Scout!

    Yessirree!  This is our Eagle Scout #3, who just passed his Eagle Board of Review!  We are very proud of him.  He has put in a lot of work throughout the years since he joined scouting as a Cub Scout.  As a Boy Scout, he has completed 28 merit badges and he did a great service project for the Parks Service in Maricopa County, painting and cleaning ramadas, picnic tables and clearing trash and debris.  I can't say enough good things about the BSA.  They have helped to shape my boys into fine young men, along with our church teachings and fine leaders that have been in their lives.  I am one proud mom.
      Becoming an Eagle Scout is a major accomplishment.  Only 3 or 4% boys who join Scouts achieves this award.  It shows that they have learned responsibility, stick-to-itiveness, and many other leadership qualities.  You may not realize that being an Eagle Scout is highly valued by businesses and even the government.  When Eagle Scouts join the military, they are given one paygrade higher as an enlisted man.  That means a little extra money!  One of our sons was told when he was hired for a job that being a Eagle Scout is what made him stand out to his employer.  Eagle Scouts are also eligible for College and Trade School Scholarships.  

   Jacob hasn't been awarded his Eagle yet.  The box he is holding is just a prop.  When he has his Court of Honor, then I will probably brag about him even more, so hold onto your hats.

       In the meantime, having another Eagle Scout Son gives us something to celebrate!  What is a celebration without a cake?  Luckily, I have my new KitchenAid at the ready to whip up The Perfect Chocolate Cake!  

The Perfect Chocolate Cake

     When I was in college, my roommate, Dana gave me this recipe.  She had gotten it from a co-worker and had fallen in love with it.  It is a dense, rich chocolate cake that takes 1 full cup of cocoa to make, and 4 eggs!  You can make it as a triple layer cake, but I made mine as a sheet cake. 

First you blend the cocoa powder into boiling water until it is smooth, and then let it cool.

You beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together until fluffy.

After adding the flour mixture and the cocoa mixture alternately and beating in between, you get this super chocolate, dense batter. It is so rich.

It fills up a 9 x 13 pan really well.

I almost forgot to show you that I greased the pan and then dusted it with cocoa powder so that it wouldn't be coated with white flour when it came out of the pan.

The cake is done when a skewer comes out clean.

     After you take it out of the pan and cool it, you have to decide if you want chocolate or vanilla frosting.  I like both, and I let Jacob decide since the cake is for him.  He chose vanilla.  You can find my recipe for buttercream frosting here.  But, just plain buttercream was boring.  I don't know if you have ever seen what the Eagle patch looks like, but it has a lot of red.  

I decided to chop up some chocolate in my chopper, as well as some red M & Ms to decorate the top.  I added a few whole M & Ms as well.  It came out looking and tasting delicious! 

This first piece was for my Eagle Scout #3.

    So, the take away from this is, if you have a young boy, get him into Scouting!  And, there is always a reason to celebrate life's moments with chocolate cake!