Mrs. Kaplan's Chocolate Cake

This is one of “those” recipes. Everybody said Mrs. Kaplan’s chocolate cake
was the absolute best. I do not know Mrs. Kaplan, but I understand she is a
Louisiana lady. One day (in my other life), a friend came rushing into the
employee lounge, breathless with excitement, shouting, “I did it, I did it…”
No, she did not win the lottery. But she had managed to come up with the
recipe for Mrs. Kaplan’s chocolate cake. And now, you have it too. Enjoy!

2 sticks [1 cup] butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
5 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
3 1/2 cups flour, sifted 3 times
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour and 1 1/4 cups buttermilk. This can be done by dividing the flour into 3 parts. Stir baking soda into the remaining 3/4 cup buttermilk. Gently fold buttermilk into batter. Add vanilla extract. Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Place in a cold oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees F.; then bake at 325 degrees F. for 15 minutes; then bake 10 minutes more at 350 degrees F. Ice when cold. [Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Then invert the layers onto the racks and allow
to cool completely.]

Icing
1 1/2 sticks softened butter
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 boxes [1 1/2 pounds] confectioner's sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons milk

Cream the butter. Add the cocoa powder and confectioner's sugar.  Continue  beating and add 4 to 5 tablespoons milk slowly until the icing reaches desired consistency for spreading. Put a generous amount of
icing between layers, then cover top and sides.

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