MONROE - Chocolate sheet cake may be one of the biggest, easiest and chocolateliest ways to feed a crowd.
Variations of this recipes abound. Many people call it Texas Sheet Cake - presumably because it makes a huge expanse of cake when baked in a jelly roll pan. Most recipes incorporate buttermilk, lending a nice moistness to the cake. The frosting is thick and almost fudge-like, and can include walnuts or pecans for extra flavor.
Other recipes forego the jelly roll pan and bake the cake in a standard 9- by 13-inch cake pan for a thicker result. This requires increasing baking time by about 10 minutes.
One thing you can count on with this family of recipes is that they will go together quickly and easily. And they are affordable - there's no exotic or expensive ingredients involved so making one probably won't involve a special trip to the grocery store. You don't even have to have real buttermilk - you can make your own with lemon juice or vinegar and white milk.
Below is the recipe my mother always made when we were kids, and still makes when her offspring and their families descend upon her house like a horde of hungry locusts. With this recipe, there's always enough to go around.
Chocolate
Sheet Cake
2 sticks margarine
1 cup water
3 Tbls. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teas. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk*
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda (put soda in buttermilk to dissolve)
Combine in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to make sure there are no lumps. Take off stove immediately.
Add the sugar, flour and salt and beat together. All at once, add eggs, buttermilk with soda and vanilla.
Bake on a greased and floured 15 by 10 jelly roll sheet or cookie sheet with sides at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost with chocolate frosting.
* To make faux buttermilk, add 1 and1/2 tsps. lemon juice or white vinegar to a half cup of milk and let it stand for five to 10 minutes.
Chocolate Frosting
1 stick margarine
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. milk
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
Combine all in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to get lumps out. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, beating well. Add nuts if desired. Spread on cake and cool.
Variations of this recipes abound. Many people call it Texas Sheet Cake - presumably because it makes a huge expanse of cake when baked in a jelly roll pan. Most recipes incorporate buttermilk, lending a nice moistness to the cake. The frosting is thick and almost fudge-like, and can include walnuts or pecans for extra flavor.
Other recipes forego the jelly roll pan and bake the cake in a standard 9- by 13-inch cake pan for a thicker result. This requires increasing baking time by about 10 minutes.
One thing you can count on with this family of recipes is that they will go together quickly and easily. And they are affordable - there's no exotic or expensive ingredients involved so making one probably won't involve a special trip to the grocery store. You don't even have to have real buttermilk - you can make your own with lemon juice or vinegar and white milk.
Below is the recipe my mother always made when we were kids, and still makes when her offspring and their families descend upon her house like a horde of hungry locusts. With this recipe, there's always enough to go around.
Chocolate
Sheet Cake
2 sticks margarine
1 cup water
3 Tbls. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teas. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk*
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda (put soda in buttermilk to dissolve)
Combine in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently to make sure there are no lumps. Take off stove immediately.
Add the sugar, flour and salt and beat together. All at once, add eggs, buttermilk with soda and vanilla.
Bake on a greased and floured 15 by 10 jelly roll sheet or cookie sheet with sides at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost with chocolate frosting.
* To make faux buttermilk, add 1 and1/2 tsps. lemon juice or white vinegar to a half cup of milk and let it stand for five to 10 minutes.
Chocolate Frosting
1 stick margarine
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. milk
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
Combine all in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently to get lumps out. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, beating well. Add nuts if desired. Spread on cake and cool.