I first made this Chocolate Skillet Cake one day when Mike Jr had his band over to practice and it became one of the families favorites.    The band ate the entire skillet of cake so fast that I literally had to give my hubby this exact piece pictured here.  I only got one bite of this scrumptious cake, but it was an amazing bite.  Moist chocolate cake topped with a chocolatey pecan glaze.  Top it with ice cream, whipped cream and caramel sauce and you have one heck of a treat!

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 Tbsp cocoa
• 4 Tbsp milk 
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. For the cake:  In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt together and set aside.
3. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, bring the butter, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, and water to a boil.
4. Remove it from the heat and whisk in the dry ingredients until well combined.
5. Whisk in the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
6. Bake the skillet cake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
7. For the frosting:  In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa, and milk to a boil.
8. Remove it from heat and add the powdered sugar, nuts, and vanilla, stirring until well combined.
9. Pour the frosting over the warm cake, spread with an offset spatula, and serve with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and/or whipped cream.