I really enjoy cooking, but I'm definitely not a true foodie. I lack the panache, creativity and abundance of kitchen tools to really be a foodie. Take my best friend from high school...she's a foodie, and a great one at that. Me? Not.so.much. But I still like cooking, when I have the time and motivation to do it.
Last week I came across this recipe from The Pioneer Woman: "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever." I had to try it. I like sinfully moist and decadent cakes. I loathe things that are hard and dry. That, and I needed to teach someone how to properly melt butter, but that's another story for another day.
With no proper sheet cake pan, I decided to modify a bit and see how things turned out. The verdict is in, and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. So, without further ado, here is my version of the world's best chocolate cake.
Simply Scrumptious Chocolate Cake
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350.
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
dash of salt
2 sticks butter (not margarine)
6 tablespoons powered cocoa (I used Hershey's baking cocoa)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, so I put 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar in a tiny bit less than 1/2 cup of 2% milk and used that instead)
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and salt. In a saucepan melt butter (go slow, you definitely don't want to to burn it!). Add cocoa and stir well. Add boiling water and allow mixture to bubble for a bit before turning off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly until mostly mixed. Don't stir to much, you don't want to make the mixture full of air or over mix it.
In a small mixing bowl, beat 2 eggs until well mixed (get rid of all the lumps of egg white). Add buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Mix well. Stir buttermilk mixture into the rest of the cake batter. Pour into a 9x13 cake pan (not glass) and bake for 32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. At about 28 minutes, you can begin checking the middle of the cake with a toothpick...my cake took 32 minutes to finish cooking in the center.
While cake is baking, make icing (this only takes a few minutes, so you can wait until the cake is done or almost done, if you wish):
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter (I reused the same saucepan) and add cocoa. Remove from heat and add milk and vanilla followed by powdered sugar. Mix well. Once the cake is done, pour over cooling cake and enjoy it warm with a nice glass of milk. And don't blame me if you make this more than once and suddenly don't fit in your normal clothes.
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