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["For the cake, preheat the oven to 350u00b0F.", "Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda in an ungreased 8"" baking dish.", "Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients. Put the oil in one hole, the vinegar in the second hole, and the vanilla in the third hole. Pour cold water over all and stir well with a fork until the ingredients are evenly blended.", "Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely.", "For the frosting, combine the milk and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and place the mixture in a small bowl. Cover the top of the bowl with a paper towel and set the mixture aside to cool completely.", "In a mixing bowl, beat the vegetable shortening, margarine and sugar on high speed with an electric mixer using the whip attachment for a full 10 minutes.", "Add the cooled milk mixture, vanilla and almond extract and beat until creamy. The mixture should look like whipped cream.", "Frost the cooled cake.", "(Adapted from a recipe I got from my mom's friend Sharon.)", "Notes:", "The cake recipe can be doubled for a 2-layer cake.", "Sharon told me she always mixes the cake right in the pan. I find it easier to mix this in a bowl following the instructions above; the glass baking dish that I have has rounded corners which makes it hard to combine the ingredients thoroughly. Either way you choose works fine. When I mix it in a bowl, I spray the bottom only of the baking dish with nonstick cooking spray."]
