Fudge Pudding Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup hot water

Preparation:Sift flour with dry ingredients; stir in milk and shortening. Add pecans and vanilla. Mix until well combined then pour into a generously greased 8 x 8-inch square pan. Combine sauce ingredients; pour over cake batter. Bake the cake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 40 minutes. Set on a rack to cool slightly (do not remove the cake from the pan). The fudgy sauce will end up on the bottom of the pan. Serve hot or cold.

I made this today because I was having a chocolate craving. I somehow missed the vanilla extract (having a baby on the hip will do that to you). All in all, I wasn't impressed. The cake part was not very chocolatey and had that made-with-AP-flour taste. Sort of heavy and dense but not in a good way. I can really taste the molasses in the brown sugar and it just doesn't work with the chocolate. But, with the missing vanilla, I can't be sure how the equation would change so I may have to try this again with more cocoa (I'd go with Dutch-processed next time), only white sugar and cake flour.