Yummy Chocolate Lava Cake

A good friend of mine in college brought this over to my house for a dinner party and baked it in the downstairs oven (not the one I typically used, since I lived on the upper floor) during dinner.  It spilled all over, and my friend the baker promised he'd clean it up.  But in the rush of the fun, he didn't, and that charred pool of chocolate stayed in the oven for the rest of the school year--maybe from August through April.  My downstairs roommates often jokingly complained about the hassle of that burnt chocolate pool cramping their baking style--dramatically ruing the day my baker friend came to dinner--but the truth is they didn't need that oven.  They didn't bake.  That wasn't the downstairs style.  Eventually someone cleaned up it, and I forgot all about it until I found this recipe.  Because the truth was, this cake was amazing.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix in a 9 x 13 pan

2 C flour
1 1/2 C sugar
4 T baking cocoa
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Then add

1 C milk
4 T vegetable oil
2 T vanilla

Mix.

Sprinkle over top 2 C brown sugar
1/2 C baking cocoa
3 1/2 C hot water

Swirl water up and down.  Bake 40 minutes.  The bottom cake will rise to the top.  Beneath it will be a fudge sauce you can spoon over as you serve it.