The most amazing brownie chocolate cake ever (my mom's)

Today, my sister Lisa made my mom's brownie chocolate cake for her son Nathan's birthday.  Nathan loves this cake so much, he requested it to be his groom's cake at his recent wedding.  And he's not alone.  This cake....amazingly moist, delicious, filled with chocolatey goodness...is a family favorite.

My mom got this recipe years ago from her friend Sandra Griffin.  Early on, my mom added mini-marshmallows to the mix and it just stuck.  If you want to try this option, spread the marshmallows directly on the cake right out of the oven, then spread the icing on them.

There's one problem with this recipe.  A 9 X 13 pan only works if you don't pour all of the cake batter in it, because the full cake batter won't cook completely otherwise.  Since my sister has the only pan my mom ever made this cake in, I have to use a 9 X 13 and just pour in less batter. (So far, I haven't been able to find a pan with these dimensions...more  square than a 9 X 13 but way bigger than an 8 X 8.  Let me know if you know where I can get one!)

An alternative is baking it in a jelly roll pan....in which case the pieces will be thinner and more like Texas Sheet Cake.

Here's the recipe, written in my mom's own hand.  The smudges on the page are testament to how much this recipe is loved!

Today is National German Chocolate Cake Day...

...which begs the question:  What is your favorite cake?

Source: google.com via Cindy on Pinterest

Did you know German Chocolate Cake isn't German at all?

Yes, today is National German Chocolate Cake Day.  And according to this website:

 A recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" first appeared in a Dallas, Texas newspaper in 1957.That it was sent in by a Dallas homemaker is all we know..... 
According to Patricia Riso, a spokeswomen for Kraft foods, It used a brand of chocolate bar called "German's" which had been developed in 1852, by an English Confectioner named Sam German, who was employed by Baker's Chocolate Company.The cake had an immediate and enthusiastic response, and requests about where to find the German's chocolate bar were so numerous that General Foods (who owned Baker's Chocolate) decided to send pictures of the cake to newspapers all around the country.Everywhere the recipe had the same response and the sales for German's Chocolate exploded so they could make this cake!

German Chocolate Cake doesn't happen to be my favorite cake.  That honor would go to the Brownie Chocolate Cake my mom makes, and which I make a lot as well.  It resembles a Texas Sheet Cake.  I also love red velvet cake.

Is German Chocolate Cake your favorite?  If not, what is? Let me know in my comments section.

And if you'd like to try your hand and making German Chocolate Cake, here's the original recipe.