Pat's Deluxe Devil's Food Cake Sends Patchy Message

Pat Souza carried in an extremely dense, and quite hedonistic, deluxe devil's food cake to the recently. It came completely topped in chocolately M&M's, placed in a Patchy message. Thanks Pat!

Treat yourself to all the great foods this holiday weekend, and never forget the simple joys of cake, cookies and ice cream.

For the cake, you will need:

• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) of softened butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon of almond extract
• 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups of Softasilk cake flour (found in the flour aisle of the grocery store)
• 2 1/4 cups of milk
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the butter cream frosting, you will need:

• 1 1/4 cups of softened butter
• 1 teaspoon of almond extract
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extrat
• 8 to 9 tablespoons of milk
• 7 1/2 cups of confectionare sugar

First, coat two 13-inch by 9-inch baking pans, or three 9-inch round pans wth Pam and line with wax paper. Pat says to beat the sugar, butter, vanilla and almond extracts in an extra large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until it's light and fluffy.

Then, beat in 1 egg at a time, and mix the cake flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Mix it well. Next, Pat says to add it to the creamed mixture in the large bowl at little at a time, alternating with milk on medium speed until all is mixed.

Pour it into the prepared pans and place them into the oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes and let it cool for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wine rack.

For the frosting, beat the vanilla and almond extracts on medium speed in a bowl until it's creamy. Gradually add 6 tablespoons of milk and the sugar. Beat it at a high speed, scraping the sides of the bowl until done.

Frost the cake, and decorate the top anyway you'd like. Pat chose M&M's!

Enjoy and Happy Memorial Day!