Milky Way Cake (no Milky Ways required)

My sister has been staying with us this summer and lucky for us (not so lucky for my waist line), she loves to make delicious desserts regularly for us. Recently she kept telling me about a Milky Way cake that her roommate always made that she wanted us to try. However, after seeing Melody's beautiful version over at Cheat Day Cafe and Tina's take on Paula Deen's Milky Way cake at Mommy's Kitchen (each containing several Milky Way candy bars melted into the batter) I was convinced that we needed to buy Milky Way candy bars for it.

Finally I looked at the recipe myself and realized that there are absolutely NO Milky Way candy bars in this Milky Way cake and that I already had all the ingredients right here in my house. She made it on the spot. At first I had absolutely no idea why this is even called Milky Way cake, but then I tasted its smooth texture and perfect fudgy moistness and I thought to myself that this cake is absolutely out-of-this-world AWESOME. It may even be the best tasting cake in the whole Milky Way. :)

Tasty, smooth, fudgy, and moist though it may be, I still couldn't take a good picture of it to save my life.

Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

3 Tbs. cocoa

pinch of salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. vanilla

FROSTING:

1-1/3 cups sugar

1/2 + 1/8 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

For cake, cream butter with sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternatively to butter/sugar mixture; stirring just until combined. Add boiling water, baking soda, and vanilla. Bake in greased and floured pan for 25 minutes at 350°.

For frosting, boil together sugar, milk, and butter for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Pour evenly over cake. (My daughter also sprinkled the white chocolate chips over the top for fun, but the recipe did not call for that).

Enjoy!