There were eighteen of them in all. Eighteen chocolate cakes. My husband is smiling…

The three finalists were *this close* but after several “tests” he finally declared a winner. I was excited because it was the easiest cake of any that I made.

I am including all the recipes because each of these were chosen as “favorite” by someone in my family. The first prize, of course, goes to the one my husband liked best {as this was the point} but I will be keeping all these recipes close at hand!

So. Without further ado:

third place:

submitted by Carrie.  This is wonderfully delicious (and is the one my sister-in-law liked best!) and easy-peasy to make. (As you can tell from this lovely recipe.)

Second place:

submitted by Stephanie @ modernchristianwoman.com. This recipe uses a few dishes but oh, the gooey-deliciousness is worth the extra dish-washing. (this was my father’s favorite!)

FIRST PLACE:

submitted by Erin. Oh, my. This cake is so rich it’s almost black. The flavor is so perfect, my husband almost sighed as he ate it.

And the best part? Do you see that directions? Mix, bake, WHALLA! perfection.

I made it with whole wheat flour and my husband didn’t even notice! I used maple syrup and oh, yumminess. I used my homemade mayonnaise and it made it even better. Oh, delight. 

And now… the prizes.

I promised prizes. And I’m so excited about them!

For the second and third place winners:

my favorite kitchen tool ever. A pan-scraper.

My sister-in-law showed up one day and said, “Tasha, you need this.” plunked it down on my kitchen counter and I don’t know if I have ever properly thanked her.

Small but priceless. You’ll love it, I promise.

For the first place winner:

This darling apron. I loved it so much I bought one for myself too.  I mean, seriously, it has ruffles! 

A nice heavy-duty wooden spoon. (you can never have too many wooden spoons!)

And, of course, a pan scraper because I love them so much.

Just for fun: an honorable mention

Have you ever made a pudding cake? You should definitely try it. Make sure you have some vanilla ice cream around to have on the side! Thank you, Darlene, for sharing this lovely recipe…

Thank you, everyone, who submitted recipes! We’ve had so much fun with all the cakes and every single one was delicious. More than one recipe has been passed on to friends and neighbors who stopped and my husband is already asking when the next recipe contest will be. Oh, dear.