Do we have a photo of this icing on top of a lovely chocolate cake? Yes, we do. Can we publish it? No.

The last time Laura made it for Ania’s birthday, she beat the icing just a little too long and when she tried to pour it out, it thickened too much in the pan and when she tried to spread it, pretty much tore the top off one side of the cake. Ania and I were laughing hysterically (which made matters worse), and I took a picture (which made matters much, much worse). Laura will kill me if I publish the picture here or anywhere. But you know what? The icing was delicious, and so was the cake, and we were deliriously happy to eat it.

Seriously, this is the best possible topping for devil’s food cake – works best on cakes made in sheet pans.

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup butter

In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage, 235 degrees. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Beat until icing just begins to thicken and loses its shine, then immediately pour over cake. As it cools, the icing will harden into a firm, fudge-like topping.

Photo by Yulia Khlebnikova on Unsplash