• Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease two 9x2-inch cake pans and line with rounds of parchment. Grease again and dust with flour. You can grease using your favorite method or use baking spray. I almost always grease with shortening
• In a fairly large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, dark brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, allspice and pepper. Mix very well to break up any lumps of dark brown sugar. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, heat the Dr Pepper just until it begins to simmer, then reduce heat to low and add the chocolate chips. Remove from heat and stir until chips are melted, then stir in the chopped up butter, vanilla extract and orange zest, allowing the butter melt while you proceed with the recipe.
• With an electric mixer (preferably stand mixer with whisk), begin beating the eggs. Drizzle in the oil and then then the prune baby food and continue beating on medium for one minute. Scrape sides of bowl and stir in the melted chocolate mixture.
• Add the dry ingredients and beat or stir on low just until fully blended.
• Heat buttermilk in the microwave for about 1 minute or just until it is very hot, then pour it in the batter. Beat on low just until smooth and blended.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 28 oz of batter per pan). Bake at 325 degrees F for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. It may take up to 38 minutes, but check at 35.
• Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then invert onto cooling racks, lift off pans and allow to cool completely before frosting. The frosting requires cooling time, so you may want to get started on that right away

Silky Chocolate Frosting

• For the frosting, off the heat, combine the sugar, flour and cocoa in a small saucepan. Add the milk and whisk until smooth.
• Put the mixture over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Reduce heat to low, cook 2 minutes, whisking all the while. Remove saucepan from heat and scrape the thick pudding mixture onto a dinner plate. Cover with a piece of parchment, wax paper or plastic wrap and let cool completely.
• In a large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat softened butter until creamy. Gradually beat in cooled milk mixture, vanilla and melted cooled chocolate.
• Note: If you do all the steps above and get a gooey mess, it's probably because something was too warm. I've done this a couple of times in the past and the fix is to beat in the chocolate as directed, but put bowl in refrigerator for 30-40 minutes to chill. The chilled mixture will whip up into a delicious, silky frosting.