Frying Pan Fudge Cake

Thanks to Ron Popp  of Wheat Fields Catering  in  Omaha, Nebraska for sharing the following recipe with us for Cooking Across America.  If you bake you will keep saying to yourself, "This doesn't look like anything I have ever prepared before?!"  But I can guarantee that after tasting it ~  you will preparing it again and again!  I would describe it more as a "Pudding Cake."

Serves: 6-8 

Cake

2⁄3 cup white sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup milk or heavy cream

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

Topping

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2⁄3 cup white sugar

3 rounded tablespoons cocoa

1½ cup boiling water

1 tablespoon pure vanilla

Cake

Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and butter thoroughly. Then add flour and milk (or heavy cream), and mix, again. Fold in chocolate and mix thoroughly. Place this mixture evenly in the bottom of

a well-greased, deep, iron frying pan (7  inches) with iron handle for baking.

Topping

In a small bowl, mix together sugars and cocoa. Place this mixture atop the first mixture.

Mix water with vanilla, and pour atop the second mixture. Place in the preheated 350°F oven. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top mixture sets up like a stiff pudding. Serve warm and top with fresh whipped cream.