The Easiest Yummy Dessert

Here's a recipe I got from my sister about twenty years ago, and have used umpteen times since then. I don't know where she got it.

Easy "Black Forest" Cake

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1 box of chocolate cake mix

1 can of cherry pie filling

Empty cake mix into mixing bowl.

Add 2 eggs.

Add 2 teaspoons almond extract.

Add the can of cherry pie filling.

Stir until all the cake mix is moistened.

Don't add any water or milk.

Pour into a 9"x12" cake pan, preferably

lined with parchment paper.

Bake according to directions on cake box.

Serve warm with 2 scoops vanilla ice cream.

You can make it even better by spreading a container

of chocolate frosting over the cake.

This is always so good, and serves a big crowd.

It's the dessert I always take for quilt club, or barbecues,

etc. (I didn't take it to L and M's barbecue because they

already had a big bakery cake coming.)

This recipe reminds me of the recipes of the 60's which, as I recall, read: a box of this, a can of that, a carton of the other thing. Almost all of my cooking is done "from scratch" meaning I try to use only fresh ingredients, not packages of ingredients. This particular dessert is an exception to that, and a very successful one.

In 1971 when we moved to Alberta I decided to do all our baking from scratch. That included chocolate cake, angel food cake, cookies, muffins, breads, buns, whatever!

It wasn't until we lived here in our retirement home that we quit eating dessert with meals. That was a relief! No more having to think of what dessert would be the right finish to any particular meal. There's one exception: whenever I make stir-fry, we have homemade orange sherbet for dessert. That somehow seems a necessity.