This week's Recipe

Busy-Day Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake recipe from Lucinda Scala Quinn's "Mad Hungry" cookbook involves minimal cleanup -- the ingredients are blended in the very pan that goes into the oven.

• servings: 8

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 cup cold water

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking pan, whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and coarse salt.
   

2. Step 2

   Make a well in center of flour mixture and add vegetable oil, pure vanilla extract, white vinegar, and cold water. Whisk until well combined. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
   

Simple Buttercream

• yield: Makes 2 3/4 cups

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Step 1

In a mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on high speed 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.