Rich. Chocolate. Cake.
I got this spiffy new cake pan for Christmas – well, actually I got two spiffy new cake pans for Christmas, but this is the first one I got, so this is the one I used – and I got this spiffy new-to-me cake recipe from Rich’s mom.
Obviously, it was time to make a cake.
Good thing we were having a gathering anyway, a cake is always welcome at parties, and this cake was a hit!
INGREDIENTS
Never-Fail-Cake-Pan Coating:
•1 tbsp flour
•1 tbsp solid shortening (Crisco)
•1 tbsp canola oil
Milky Way Cake:
•8 (2.15 oz) Milky Way candy bars
•1 cup butter
•2 cups sugar
•4 large eggs, separated
•1-1/4 cup buttermilk
•1/2 tsp baking soda
•2-1/2 cup flour
•1/2 tsp salt
•1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
•6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
First, the never-fail-cake-pan coating:
Combine the shortening together with the flour and canola oil in a small bowl, then brush evenly over the insides of your cake pan of choice – a 10″ tube, or a bundt or…
Works a treat! The cake will pop out of the pan cleanly and easily, and with none of those splotchy white flour bits left from just greasing and flouring the pan.
Now, for the cake:
Preheat oven to 325°.
Add the Milky Way bars and the sugar to a large, heavy Dutch oven, cover, and melt over low heat, stirring every now and again.
While the candy bars are melting, combine the flour and the salt together in a bowl and set aside.
Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, and baking soda to another small bowl and whisk to combine – I used my immersion blender.
In another bowl – look, I know this is beginning to sound like a lot of bother, but this truly is a pretty darned tasty cake, and it does actually come together pretty quickly and easily – where was I?
Oh! Yeah – in another bowl (I used my stand mixer with the whisk attachment), beat the egg whites until they are fluffy and stiff, but not dry.
So. Milky Way bars and butter are melted; add the sugar and stir until smooth.
Now you can stir in a bit of the flour and salt, followed by a bit of the egg yolk mixture, repeating – flour first, then egg yolks – until you have added it all. It will 
look kind of like a brownie batter. Add the nuts here, if you’re using them.
Fold in the egg whites, then turn the batter into your never-fail-coated cake pan and pop into the oven for about an hour – until the cake is set and begins to pull away from the pan. Mom’s recipe called for about 75 minutes, but my cake was nicely done in a bit under an hour, so keep an eye on it.
Whenever the cake is done, pull it out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes on a rack, then unmold and allow to cool completely.
Place the chocolate chips in a ‘wave-safe bowl and melt by hitting the 30-second button two or three times, stirring after each cycle.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cooled cake and add jimmies to make it festive.
As an option, you could use white chocolate chips in place of the semi-sweet, or you could add a layer of the white on top of the dark chocolate.
It’s all good; and one. FINE. cake.