Texas Sheet Cake

This cake is one of those classic desserts that has been around for quite a while.  It goes by other names including: Chocolate Sheet Cake, Chocolate Brownie Sheet Cake and Mississippi Mud Cake (which often includes mini marshmallows in the icing). I think it is probably the best chocolate cake there is.

I don't make it frequently, but I love to make it for a special occasion or for company. It is moist, buttery chocolate, and doesn't need the ice-cream that I often serve with it.  I do sometimes replace half the white flour with half whole wheat, and Coconut Sugar or Sucanat  instead of white sugar, neither of which change the deliciousness and moistness of this cake, but does help it to be a tiny bit more on the healthy side (and every little bit helps… at least I think it does).  I got this recipe from a friend of mine many years ago, when I was newly married, and it has been a treasure in my recipe box ever since.

Cake:
1 cup butter
1 cup water
4 Tablespoons cocoa
2 cups sugar

2 cups unbleached flour (or 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached white flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt (they all work wonderfully).
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Grease a 10x15x1 inch sheet cake pan and set aside. Note: you can use a smaller pan, and get a thicker cake… its delicious either way.
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Put butter, water and cocoa in a sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil.  
4. Put the remaining dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to mix well.
5. Pour hot mixture into dry ingredients and stir well.
6. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
7. Pour into a greased sheet cake pan (10 x 15 x 1 is a good size)
8. Bake 20-25 minutes or until test knife comes out clean.
9. While cake is cooking, make the icing as follows:

Icing:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
1  box (1 pound) organic powdered sugar  (3-4 cups) or (you can make your own  powdered sucanat by grinding it in a coffee mill if you want).  Keep in mind that you don't want the frosting to stiff… it needs to be pourable
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Chopped Pecans

Icing Instructions:

1. Melt butter with cocoa, whisking well as it melts.
2. Add milk and continue stirring.
3. Add powdered sugar and vanilla.
4. Mix well.
5. Pour over cake as soon as it comes out of oven.
6. Allow to cool and serve (actually this is a wasted instruction… eat it hot if you like, it is so good any which way you serve it.