I associate this recipe with summertime purely because I baked it for our first ‘end of summer block party’.  Within weeks of moving into our current house 10 years ago (how OLD am I?) we were invited to a block party, always a good sign when assessing your new neighborhood.   Because of the timing it felt like a welcome to the neighborhood party for us.  The cake was a big success, and 10 years later I am still grateful to live with the coolest neighbors around!  Try this out at your next party, you’ll get points for originality and blow them away with the rich flavors.

I can not take credit for this recipe, all the thanks go to Ella!  Ella Rita Helfrich of Houston, Texas created this recipe; and with it became the $5,000 winner of the Pillsbury Bake-off in 1966.  I bet 5 grand went far back then.  And although I am feeling old today, I can say that this win predated my existence…just barely.  It is a cool cake because a tunnel of fudge filling mysteriously develops in the middle of the cake similar to the lava cakes of present day, but more of a surprising element integral to the dough.  Don’t skimp on the nuts since they are the key to the gooey center.

Cake Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 ¾ cups softened butter

6 eggs

2 cups powdered sugar

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups chopped walnuts

Glaze Ingredients:

¾ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

My addition – add a splash of coffee, espresso or Kahlua

4 to 6 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan.

In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar; blend well.  By hand, stir in flour and remaining cake ingredients until well blended.

Spoon batter into greased and floured pan; spread evenly.  Bake cake for 45-50 minutes or until top is set and edges are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Cool upright in pan on wire rack for 1 ½ hours.  Invert onto serving plate and then cool at least another 2 hours.

In a small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency.  Spoon the glaze over the top of the cooled cake, allowing some of the glace to run down the sides.  Store tightly covered.