Recipe: Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Frosting

the appetizer:

In Southern Cakes, Nancie McDermott offers a tempting selection of cake recipes, including Japanese Fruitcake, Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Frosting, and Kathy Starr's Mississippi Delta Jelly Cake.

I Love Desserts

Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Makes enough for one 2-layer cake or one 13-by-9-inch cake

Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Frosting

This simple, old-fashioned frosting sets up like fudge and is simple to make. I love this on yellow and white layers for contrast, and on chocolate layers for deep chocolate pleasure.

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
or half-and-half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cocoa, and salt, and stir or whisk to mix everything well. Add the butter and place over medium heat, stirring to melt the butter and mix everything together into a smooth, brown sauce.

Add the milk, stir well, and bring the frosting to a lively boil, stirring often.

Adjust the heat to maintain an active but gentle boil, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. When the frosting begins to thicken, remove it from the heat, stir in the vanilla, and set it aside to cool for about 20 minutes.

Beat the frosting just until it thickens and looks shiny, and then spread it over the cake or the layers you want to ice.