Saucy Lowbrow Chocolate Cake

Cribbed off the back of a King Arthur flour bag.

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/3 cups sugar

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk these together. If mixture is lumpy, sift or sieve it. Then add:

2 1/4 cups water
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted, or 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Gently stir till everything is just combined. Don't beat it or the cake will be rubbery.

Pour batter into a lightly greased 8" square or 9" round cake pan. Bake the cake in a preheated 350 F oven for 45 minutes; when done, the top will be set and the bottom bubbly.

Remove the cake from the oven and serve as soon as possible. For best effect, flip the whole thing out onto a serving tray so everyone can admire the chocolate gravy bathing the cake. The fresher out of the oven you can serve it, the smoother and warmer the sauce will be; it cools into a pudding-like consistency.

This was a huge hit at the February clerks' party. Credit for calling it "lowbrow" goes to Lynn M., who assumes that everything I bake must involve fancy ingredients.