Godiva Chocolate Bar Cake

When we have absolutely nothing else to do Maya and I head to Pottery Barn Kids for some free entertainment.  As you can imagine, this happens quite often.  With  puzzles, pretend kitchens, fake food, cash registers, dress up tables, drawing tables and tons of other kids to play with, why would we go anywhere else?   

A few weeks ago, when I was at my wit’s end (again), I took Maya to the Manhattan Beach location so she could run wild play.  As she joined forces with another kid (whose parents, incidentally, looked as exhausted as I felt) to clean a pretend room with a pretend vacuum, I browsed through the book section and found this cute kid’s cookbook:

For a change we left the store with an actual purchase!  Pottery Barn can finally show some ROI from the Din Family.

We cracked open the book this morning, and after much debate we decided to make the “Made-In-The-Pan Chocolate Cake.” 

According to the recipe, this cake doesn’t require any bowls because you can mix everything in the baking pan.  With an easy clean up, this recipe was already a winner in my book. 

We started following the recipe but then decided things were looking a little too plain.  So how does one dress up a chocolate cake, we wondered?  With more chocolate, of course!  We broke into our stockpiles of Godiva chocolate (thank you Grandpa for giving us a box every week), chopped a selection of chocolates into pieces, and threw them into our masterpiece. 

And now, without any further ado, may I present you with a recipe for the best tasting cake you will ever have in your life:

Godiva Chocolate Bar Cake

1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
5 Godiva chocolates

In an 8″ X 8″ baking pan, mix all the dry ingredients together with a fork. Add the liquids to the pan and mix well. Chop up four of the Godiva chocolates and add to the mixture. Wipe the sides of the pan and add the last chocolate to the middle of the cake.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.

While the cake is baking feel free to make a mess licking your fingers.  And the measuring cups.  And the counter if needed.

Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes:

After the cake cools, cut a piece straight from the middle where the heart melted.  Why?  Because that is the best piece of the whole cake.

And enjoy!