Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Confessions of the Not So Famous

Here we are in the middle of January already. I know that most blogs host a giveaway when they reach 100 posts and I have passed that milestone. My excuse poor though it is - I was really busy moving. I will be hosting a giveaway, but it will have to wait until the gift I am giving is published and then arrives in my mailbox so I can send it to the winners mailbox. There maybe more than one surprise I am still thinking. So in the meantime I have a question for all of you.

In our family we have an ongoing debate of what is a CHOCOLATE CAKE?
Anita (me) says it is a cake that is chocolate, devil's food etc. with any kind of frosting.
Carl (dh) says it is any cake with a chocolate frosting. That the frosting determines what the cake is.

Needless to say it has created many lively discussions over the years and the family nuclear and extended is divided in their opinions. So what I would like to know is
What do you think is a chocolate cake. Please vote in the poll on the right.

P.S. DH has read the blog and says I have it wrong. He says that when you go to the store and tell the baker by pointing at the cake with the chocolate frosting "I want that chocolate cake", and then you take it home and cut it and you see what the cake is. So he says it could be any cake, but a chocolate cake is the one with the chocolate frosting. The poll has been changed to reflect this new information. We strive to be accurate.

12 comments:

Chocolate Cat said...

I have voted but have to say you are very definately right!!! A white cake with chocolate frosting is simply a white cake that happens to have chocolate frosting and is very boring!!!! Guess now you know what my favorite cake is!!

Carl Owen said...

O.K. with a name like chocolate cat,I have to think you are a little biased, in other words if the whole thing isn't chocolate then it is not chocolate enough. Think of it this way. You stop by the bakery and see this beautiful cake with rich chocolate frosting and you say: "I would like that chocolate cake." The bakery lady would sell it to you as a chocolate cake and when you got home and sliced it open the interior might be white or yellow. Go ahead confess that I am right. DH

Cheryl said...

Personally, a chocolate cake is a devils food with chocolate frosting. If I purchase a what looks like a chocolate cake I will either examine the label to see if the cake is chocolate or ask the baker. I don't want to be disappointed when I cut into it. :)
hmmm.... actually that sounds really good... maybe I'll make one in the next day or two.

Digger said...

I would like a chocolate cake...but it had better be chocolate cake...the frosting would be best if it were also chocolate, but I could live with vanilla frosting on my chocolate cake.

Actually, I would rather have barbecue.

Amy said...

LOL...I must admit that I am a "frosting" person too. If someone were to say "I just ate some chocolate cake", but first image would be of a cake with Chocolate frosting....so,
I vote along with hubby.

Carl Owen said...

Thank you Amy. Obviously you are a very intelligent lady. My Mom's chocolate cakes were yellow inside and the outside was the Hershey fudge recipe that was poured over the cake and dried to a tasty fudge frosting. Still my favorite.
I appreciate your support. I think the dear wife might have fixed the contest. I have seen her on the phone quite a bit. Thanks again. Carl

Anita said...

The following is posted for my daughter who had trouble trying to add her comment here.

Hi Mother Dear.
I was not successful at posting a message to your chocolate cake debate, so I will try to do it this way. :o) You'll have to let me know if you get this okay.

A chocolate cake is definitely decided on what kind of cake mix is used. The frosting is separate and is exactly what is says it is - frosting. The cake sometimes has frosting on it and sometimes doesn't. In the case where the frosting is blocking the view of what kind of cake it is, the bakery will usually have a label that tells the buyer what kind of cake is for sale. See exhibit A. In the instance of a cake being in the bakery case, the baker will mark the cake in some way as to be able to tell the customer what kind of cake it is if they should ask. If the customer points to a cake and says that they want that chocolate cake, the baker is inclined to just give the customer the cake they are pointing at whether it really is a chocolate cake or not. What do they care if the customer doesn't know what kind of cake it is, they are making a sale. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a cake is: a breadlike food made from a dough or batter that is usually fried or baked in small flat shapes and is often unleavened. I don't see any mention of the frosting deciding what a cake is. Again, when you are looking to find out what kind of CAKE you are looking at, you must have some knowledge of what is under the frosting. You would have to have an honest baker or if you made your cake, keep the box for the cake mix from which you made your cake. This issue is quite clear. My dad needs to just arrange his words a bit before he points. Instead of saying, "I want that chocolate cake" he would say "I want that cake with the chocolate frosting". That would be the correct way to order the cake. Love you Daddio!

Candace said...

I'm on the side of chocolate cake being the cake, and the frosting not being a deciding factor. Thus, chocolate cake with vanilla icing, etc.

Anonymous said...

Ah, what planet is hubby residing on? You are SO right. Let me ask him a question - what flavour is a cake if it has NO icing? A chocolate cake with any other flavoured icing is still, duh, a chocolate Cake just as a vanilla cake remains a vanilla cake regardless of the icing that is put on top. Men!! (Please don't take offence, tongue firmly planted in cheek *LOL*). Right, now to click on that poll...

Carl Owen said...

jindiscottage,

you mispelled offense. ha ha
Carl

arlette said...

You're definitely right!, I'm agree with you

Carl Owen said...

Please listen people a cake is a combination of ingredients. You have a cake mix containing many ingredients which chocolate may or may not be one of the ingredients. If you have two layers, you might even have a different cake mix with many different ingredients. Now, once you put it together with the frosting you have a complete unit a cake. When you see the complete unit and you see nice chocolate frosting covering the many possible ingredients beneath, it is simply a chocolate cake. If you took a picture of the cake, you would only see the scrumptious chocolate frosting and you would tend to term it a beautiful chocolate cake (a unit) not just determined by the various possible ingredients hidden well below the generous application of rich chocolate frosting. Finally, I hope I have convinced the non-believers. Carl