Alice Bachman's Chocolate Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs (local farmer eggs)
1/2 cup buttermilk (don't panic-tip at the end)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted then add 3 T. cocoa (I use Trader Joe's) and add 1 cup HOT water
Mix sugar and flour and beat in eggs. Next add hot water/cocoa/butter mixture. Add buttermilk, soda and vanilla. Beat well by hand. Pour into 9 X 13 cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Frosting:
Melt 1 stick butter (yes, I know) with 3 T. cocoa powder. Add box of powdered sugar, 6 T. buttermilk and 1 tsp. vanilla and mix it all together. Make sure butter is all melted in and pour over cake after cake has cooled a bit.
***I love this cake because it requires no strange ingredients except the buttermilk but my grandmother, Lavera taught me a trick years ago how to "create" my own buttermilk! What a great trick...put a little vinegar in the measuring cup and add milk. Let it set for a few minutes and voila, it will become buttermilk!! Easy. So make it and frost it and let your family eat it all up.
Top Ten Questions Dutton Editors Ask Themselves When Looking At A Manuscript
1. Who is the readership for this book?
2. Does this story surprise me and take me to places I didn’t expect?
3. Is this a main character I care about?
4. Am I personally moved by this story or sitituation?
5. I this a theme/emotion/concern that a lot of kids will be able to relate to?
6. Has this been done a million times before?
7. Will I want to read this manuscript ten (or more) times?
8. Is the voice/character authentic and real?
9.
For picture books: Would this story be visually interesteding for 32
pages? Could I esaily envision the illustrations for this?
10.
For novels: Does the action of the story move at a good pace and hold
our interest? Does tension build as the story moves forward?
(I found this on the Writing and Illustrating blog, posted by Kathy Teamen.)