Chocolate Sheet Cake

My family and I like to joke that Pioneer Woman stole this recipe from us, since she has such a similar one on her blog. We know it’s not true by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it makes us feel a little smug. We think to ourselves, We had an amazing family recipe that Ree Drummond decided she was going to pilfer! Because it was so awesome, of course! We’ve been robbed by fantastic Pioneer Woman, of all people! Wouldn’t it sound cool to tell people that at dinner parties?

Ahem . . . but, as I mentioned . . . not actually true. In reality, the recipe for this amazing Chocolate Sheet Cake was created by who-knows-who, and was passed around, shared, and adapted to fit into many families’ recipe boxes. Here’s an interesting discussion about the origins of the cake. Several folks on Pioneer Woman’s blog recount where they came across the recipe first: some found it printed in a newspaper decades ago, some grew up eating it in their own kitchens. My family’s recipe was passed on to us by my great aunt, Linda Houts. Bless that woman.

Readers also shared their different names for the cake: Fabulous Sheet Cake, Cowboy Sheet Cake. Beth Moore and some other folks calls their version Texas Sheet Cake — and the flavor is, indeed, big enough for even Texas! As for my family, we always just called ours Chocolate Sheet Cake. But now I’m a little jealous of all those fancy names! I might have to come up with something a little more snappy. What do you think of Majestic Imperial Fantabulous Sheet Cake o’ Love? MIFSCOL for short? Okay, okay, fine . . . we’ll stick with Chocolate Sheet Cake.

But this is one fantabulous cake. It’s simple enough that I made it as a child (repeatedly — as in, any time my mom would hand over the cocoa powder and a spoon). My favorite time- and energy-saving characteristic of this cake is that you don’t have to wait for the cake to cool to pour the rich frosting all over it. So easy and quick!

But it’s not just simple — it’s also delicious enough that I still make it as an adult (wait, what? I’m an adult?!) when I want the absolute best chocolate cake flavor. Don’t you love it when the easiest also happens to be your favorite? The cake is fluffy and extremely moist with a gooey, deep chocolate frosting. I’m telling you . . . something magic happens when you put all these ingredients together, and the product is greater than the sum of its parts!

I’ve devoured this cake in Chocolate Chickie Cake Balls, in the Ice Cream Cupcakes I posted earlier this week, and (of course) all by its lovely lonesome. It’s also the perfect platform for a big ol’ scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. After my discussion of Freezer Tetris last post, I’m sure you’ll believe me when I say that there’s a big ziplock bag of Chocolate Sheet Cake in my freezer right now, just waiting for another fun recipe where I can sneak it in! Once you get a taste, you’ll be looking for any reasons you can find to bake it, too!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

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Recipe by: Linda Houts
Yields: one half sheet cake (serves about 12)

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
dash salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting Ingredients:
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons cocoa
6-8 tablespoons milk (as needed for consistency)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt together and set aside. Mix butter, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, and water together in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Pour over mixture of dry ingredients. Stir well, then add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix to combine. Pour into a half sheet cake pan (12 x 18 in.) sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. When a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs, the cake is done. While cake starts to cool, make the frosting. Mix butter, cocoa, and milk and bring to boil. Remove from heat and add confectioner’s sugar, nuts, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Spread over warm cake.

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