CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

Amy came by the register at Hillcrest Thrift Shop on Tuesday to tell me that the cake I had brought was her all-time favorite of everything I had brought! I told my husband after I got home. When he had a piece after dinner, he told me he thought Amy was right. 

It is really delicious and so moist! The recipe was one from Lois Depoy or Harrisonburg, Virginia and was included in Phyllis Pellman Good and Kate Good's Mennonite Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley cookbook. I admit I was intrigued when I saw the two ingredients - dates and salad dressing (the Miracle Whip variety). Not so much the dates as I have made cakes where they soaked the dates in hot water first, but the salad dressing? That was a first.

If you like moist cake with a crunchy-like topping, this is the cake for you. I love a cake that I don't have to worry about frosting, too!

CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

1       cup chopped dates
1       cup boiling water
2      teaspoons baking soda
1       cup sugar
1       cup salad dressing (the Miracle Whip variety)
2      cups flour
1       teaspoon vanilla
1/2   cups chopped pecans
1/2   cups brown sugar
1       cup chocolate chips

Combine the dates, water, and baking soda. Cool. 

(I let mine set for 30 minutes.)





Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 - inch pan. (I used my homemade Pan Grease.)

Stir in the sugar, salad dressing, flour, and vanilla with the cooled date mixture in a large mixing bowl.

Pour into pan.

Combine the pecans, brown sugar, and chocolate chips and

sprinkle over the batter in the pan.

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes.