2008.02.27
A killer recipe: Texas chocolate sheet cake
This is one of those recipes you're supposed to protect with the assertion that, "If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." Of course, the person who gave me this recipe, retired Roanoke Times copy desk editor Nancy Caldwell, is one of the top 5 sweetest people I know.
She kindly passed it on to me, so I'll kindly pass it on to you.
It also helps out blog reader Kat with the question of what to do with leftover buttermilk. It calls for 1/2 cup of buttermilk plus several tablespoons.
This cake is rich and brownie-like. The homemade chocolate icing is slathered on in the pan while the cake is still hot. It cools into a deliciously sugary, dense dessert.
Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake
For cake:
2 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup Crisco
4 Tbsp. cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda, added to buttermilk
2 unbeaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Icing:
1 stick margarine
4 Tbsp. cocoa
6 Tbsp. buttermilk
1 box confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Cake: Sift together sugar and flour. Mix margarine, Crisco, cocoa and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over sugar and flour. Mix well. Add other cake ingredients. Mix well. Grease and flour a 9 x 13- inch baking pan. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 45 minutes. Prepare icing while cake is baking. Ice in pan while cake is hot.
3. Icing: Melt margarine in saucepan. Add cocoa and buttermilk. Stir together. Bring to a boil. Pour over sifted confectioner's sugar. Beat well. Stir in vanilla and nuts.
My Aunt used to make this cake and we would always devour it. I remember her making it on a sheet tray (I think that was right) and we couldn't believe how big this cake seemed.
I may have to use the recipe to recreate those warm and fuzzies!
Comment by Amy Hanek — February 28, 2008 @ 10:36 am
Hi Lindsey,
Love your blog!
I always read the comments, but I myself am not a big "commenter" for some reason. However, I have been meaning to ask if you have ever visited one of my absolute favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. Her photography is remarkable, as is her skill in her tiny NYC kitchen.
Just the other day she posted a good-looking recipe for chocoalte cake that calls for buttermilk and coffee - if you have time, check it out.
http://smittenkitchen.com/
Comment by Kimberly — February 28, 2008 @ 12:18 pm
Hey Lindsey, that cake is VERY much like a "family recipe" that my wife's family makes. They call it "$300 Cake." Don't know where that name comes from, but it tastes so good it seems worth that much! I started to send you the recipe because of the buttermilk request, but just hadn't gotten to it yet. Just a few differences, in the cake she uses SR flour, a cup of oil instead of half a cup of Crisco, and less baking soda. In the icing she uses 4 tbsp sweet milk instead of buttermilk.
Comment by Dennis — February 28, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
Holy cow! This is a real cake?
My mom used to call her homeade brownies 'Texas Sheet Cake' when they failed to fluff up on their own.
Learn something new every day!
Comment by Rich — February 28, 2008 @ 2:26 pm