Best Chocolate Cake

By Nancy Loughin
Observer Food Editor

Kimberly Browning's Chocolate Mint Chip Cake is one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made. I have tried quite a few chocolate cakes in my ten plus years of doing this column, but this cake is a real show-stopper for company. It is moist and fudgy, and keeps well in the refrigerator. It is very, very rich, with a hint of mint chocolate chips giving it a little crunch of chocolate. It's a true choco-holic's cake. No icing for this cake--it tastes perfect just as it comes from the oven--with a hint of powdered sugar on top.
"This is my favorite cake, and was always my birthday cake," so the story goes from Kimberly. "When we were living in California, my mother still insisted that a birthday person should not bake her own cake, so she would bake this cake and ship it UPS."
"The day of my birthday, the UPS truck pulled up, and I went to the door. I was so excited I told the driver that this was my cake. 'Oh gross,' replied the driver, 'Somebody is sending you a cake in the mail? It's probably smashed.' Well, not this cake. I told him about it, opened the box, and gave him a slice. He couldn't believe how good it was."
So it ships well. This cake is so moist it even travels well. Kimberly's relatives were traveling from New Jersey to North Carolina, with the Chocolate Mint Chip Cake in the back seat. No problem. This is not your average cake by any means.
Kimberly and her husband Stephen have been married for eight and a half years, and are always having fun with their children,
Adam, age 7, and Krysta, age 5. Next comes the story of the dog biscuits. Kimberly grabs a box of dog biscuits from the counter and begins eating them herself. This reporter was pretty grossed out. Then she offered me one, which I politely declined. Dog biscuits? The joke finally came out--they are ginger cookies for humans shaped in the size and dimension of dog biscuits. They are cut out with a cookie cutter the shape of a milk bone.
"They are just for laughs, and we get plenty of them when we use them with our youth group, especially with visitors," laughed Kimberly. Actually, the cookies are quite good, and worth the practical joke just to eat the cookies. "The kids think it is hysterical to play a joke on adults, and this is a good one."
This summer the Brownings have lived for three years in Sterling, but with Stephen being in the Air Force, they move around a lot. He now works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. "Besides Colorado, where we grew up, this is the most enjoyable place we have ever lived. We love it here, and have gotten to know some really terrific people and families. It would be really hard to leave this area."
Kim sings in the choir at their church, Faith Bible Church, and she co-leads the children's choir. She also helps with the crafts for her Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group at church. Kimberly and her husband help with the youth group, where he teaches teen gymnastics. They have their own gymnastics team, the Slam Jam, which combines basketball and gymnastics for the youth. "The kids have a really great time," says Kimberly.
The Browning family enjoys a wide variety of sports, such as rollerblading, ice skating, swimming and of course, gymnastics. Her husband Stephen was on the gymnastics team at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she met him.
As a busy homemaker, Kimberly's recipes are just "Mom stuff." Her recipes are really exceptional. The are very easy, very quick, get-it-on-the-table-recipes, that don't require a lot of steps or preparation time. "They are not elaborate recipes, but they are really good recipes for families," she adds.
Make sure to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. They are a family tradition, and the cereal adds a delightful crunch to the flavor. "They are a requirement for our family for Thanksgiving and Christmas." Her great grandmother's Hermit cookies recipe is one of the best moist cookies you will ever try.

Fabulous Chocolate Mint Cake
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 large pkg. Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
12 oz. pkg. of chocolate mint chips
Mix all ingredients for 4 minutes with mixer, except chocolate chips. Add chips and mix by hand. Put into a greased bundt pan or Angel Food pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Allow to cool completely before removing. Brush with powdered sugar.

Milky Way Brownies
1/3 cup oil
12 small Milky Way bars, chopped
1 Tbsp. water
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans
In a large bowl, blend all ingredients thoroughly with a wooden spoon, not an electric mixer. Spread in a greased 9-inch square pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack, then cut in squares and remove with spatula. They freeze well.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
1 cup margarine
1 lb. box powdered sugar
2 cups chunky peanut butter
3 cups rice Krispies
6 oz. chocolate chips
1 lg. Hershey chocolate bar
1/4 bar baker's wax
Mix the margarine, powdered sugar, peanut butter and cereal by hand (don't rush, this may take a while to get it all mixed). (Refrigerate this covered at this point and continue later, if you don't have a lot of time.) Roll small amount into a 1-inch ball, while the chocolate chips, Hershey bar and wax are melting in a double boiler. Dip balls in chocolate mixture using a toothpick. Place in waxed paper on a cookie sheet. They freeze well, but don't usually last that long.

Pork Chops
You choice number of pork chops
1 onion slice for each
1 Tbsp. ketchup for each
Brown sugar for each
In a large baking dish, spread ketchup on top of pork chop. Place an onion slice on top, then a little less than 1 Tbsp. brown sugar on top of each onion slice. Cover dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes to brown on top.

Beef and Cabbage
1/2 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil
3 cups shredded cabbage
4 oz. spaghetti noodles
1/4 tsp. pepper
Heat oil in wok; add beef and stir fry for 3 minutes. Stir in cabbage. Add water and broth. Bring to a full boil. Stir in noodles, salt and pepper. Cover and steam for 10 minutes until liquid is dissolved.

Human Dog Biscuits (Spicy Thins)
1 cups soft margarine
1 egg
3 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ginger
Combine dry ingredients. Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and syrup. Add dry ingredients mixing well. (Dough may seem slightly dry.) Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet, and bake at 375 degrees for 6 to 7 minutes. Clean out a dog biscuit box, and pack with cooled cookies.
Hermits
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
3 cups flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp. soda
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. each ground cinnamon and cloves
Cream butter and sugar together. Dissolve soda in water. Add all ingredients together. Drop on greased baking sheet and bake in oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Kids Favorite Hot Dog Casserole
1 pkg. hot dogs
1 lb. can pork and beans
1/4 cup ketchup
1 can corn, drained
1/2 onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a glass casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour.

Broccoli Salad
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup salted sunflower seeds
3/4 cup real bacon bits or 10 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
1 large bunch or broccoli flowerets, chopped
Combine mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, combine ingredients and toss with refrigerated mixture.