cornmeal buttermilk cake + chocolate frosting.

Haha.

That's my response to life right now. Junior year started a week ago, and I just realized I have zero expectations for the year. Initially that seemed kinda sucky.

But then I recalled a conversation I had too many times with too many people last year about how unspontaneous and boring our lives had become. I felt like an old person who had nothing to look forward to in life.

So maybe this unpredictable-ness is a good thing!


Kinda like this post, right? It's been almost a month .. things got busy, and then I was almost afraid to blog because I forgot what it felt like.

WEIRD. Anyway, I think this year's theme is going to be "unexpected." Random movie night (we saw 500 Days of Summer! I'd never seen it before.) sleepover and being served homemade pancakes the next day. Being forced to call RUPD (that's the on campus police department) on my second ever day of work. 11 pages of notes in my first Human Parasitology class during what should be syllabus week. Getting stuck in an ridiculous downpour while evacuating a football game and running 2 miles home with my roommate, all the while getting soaked. At least Rutgers won, right?

This cake has somewhat of an element of surprise. The cornmeal! There's some added to the cake batter to add a really nice crunch. I know cornmeal in batter is usually paired with fruit. But this combination works.

I used a pretty significant amount of whole wheat, and substituted all the butter with oil. I think switching the flour according to what I wrote below (in the recipe) would be fine, but I recommend using butter for the best texture/flavor. Overall, the cake is good, and the frosting is amazing. Seriously, whip it really well and marvel at how good it is. It's a basic unadulterated chocolate frosting.

Hope you try this out and enjoy it! I'm here to spread the spontaneity.

Cornmeal Buttermilk Cake + Chocolate Frosting
adapted from here.

• 1 3/4 cup flour (I used 1 cup white + 3/4 cup whole wheat) 
• 1/3 cup cornmeal 
• 1 tspn baking powder 
• 1/2 tspn baking soda 
• 1/2 tspn salt 
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark) 
• 1/2 cup butter (I used oil)
• 1 cup buttermilk (I diluted some yogurt) 
• 1 tspn vanilla 
• 4 eggs, room temperature 

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate 
• 2 sticks butter, softened 
• 1 tspn vanilla 
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder 
• 4 cups powdered sugar 
• 1/3 cup buttermilk 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8" pans with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, cornmeal, powder, soda, salt, and granulated sugar. Set aside; this is your dry mixture.
3. Whisk brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs until well combined. 
4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Mix just until large lumps disappear. Small lumps are okay. 
5. Divide batter between two pans, and bake 25 - 30 minutes, until the top springs back when gently pressed. Sides of the cake should be pulling away a little from the edges, as well. 
6. Transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Make frosting as cakes cool. 
7. Frosting: Melt chocolate. Let come to room temperature. Combine chocolate and butter well. Beat in vanilla, cocoa, & powdered sugar. Add buttermilk as necessary until desired consistency is reached. 
8. Once cakes have completely cooled, frost the layers and stack them. Decorations are optional. Happy eating!