Happy Birthday Mom (in-law)!

This weekend we celebrated my Mother-in-law's birthday.  When I asked her a few weeks ago what kind of cake she wanted, she immediately answered, "Brown Derby!".

Ummm, okay...

I mentioned it to my Mom, and she knew what MIL was talking about.  Must be a generational thing, I assumed...because I never knew what it was until it was explained to me.  I wasn't even getting a clear answer when I googled!

It's quite simple, actually.  A chocolate cake with whipped cream, strawberries and bananas...and crumbled cake bits over the cream.  I went with the Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake recipe (minus the icing) and highly recommend it!  I would NOT use this recipe for cupcakes, however...it's pretty soft and sticks to your fingers very easily.

I used my sweetened whipped cream recipe for the topping.  Add fresh sliced strawberries and bananas, and there you have it.  Yum.

It was a big hit!

Brown Derby Cake
adapted from Hershey's Kitchens

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (I actually used Ghirardelli!)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Sweetened Whipped Cream
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
1 banana, thinly sliced
Cake crumbles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

Stir together the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, then add all other ingredients except the boiling water.  Beat in mixer (medium speed) for 2 minutes.  Add boiling water.  Batter will be very thin.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center of the cake clean.  Leave in pans for 10 minutes then remove and let cool completely on racks.

Trim both cakes so they are even (do this with a serrated knife, and very carefully!).  Crumble cake scraps and set aside.

Place one cake on serving plate and top with whipped cream.  Add sliced strawberries and bananas.  Place second cake over first cake and cover top and sides with whipped cream.  Place cake crumbles all over the whipped cream.

Linked to: Themed Bakers Sunday