The Great Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake Adventure

In my opinion, one of the great things about the internet is the ability to find "long lost" recipes. As I was trying to decide what to take to my in-laws' house for Fathers' Day dinner, I remembered a chocolate cake that I had quite a few years ago. I remembered that it was called Texas Chocolate Cake -- so I began my search.

The search revealed a plethora of possibilities. And they were all very similar.

I decided to do my cooking on Saturday afternoon. (Of course, I couldn't make just one dessert. When have an audience, I will cook just as much as I think might possibly be consumed. The other creations will be discussed in subsequent blogs).

Before I provide the actual recipe, I better go into the description of what happened. I baked the cake and it turned out pretty much as expected (except the part where the cake spilled over and got all over the bottom of my stove!) The frosting, however, was a different story. I had put the ingredients in my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer. It was just not right. I thought maybe I had left out the milk -- so I added it...and it became a spreadable consistency rather than powder. Hmm. Was this right? It tasted a little bitter. But, I forged on and frosted the cake.

I tried it again. Still seemed bitter. My husband tried it. He said it was ok. Ok doesn't really cut it in my kitchen. So, as I went to bed Saturday night, I was glad I had the other dessert options to take to the dinner.

Of course, it couldn't be that simple. That night, I dreamed about chocolate cake. No, I'm not kidding. Not only did I dream about it, I figured out what I needed to do to fix it. Well, I couldn't fix the one I'd already made, but I could make a new one and do it right.

So, when I woke up Sunday morning, I went straight to the grocery store. When I got home, I was more than convinced that I knew what to do. I searched the internet again for the frosting recipe I wanted and got to work. Cake turned out fine -- I changed a couple things but not much. I used a completely different frosting.

The results were astounding! I made the best chocolate cake ever!

Here's the final, Rene'-modified recipe:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 lb. butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 400°. Mix sugar, flour, and salt. Bring butter, cocoa, and water to a boil, and pour over the flour mixture. Mix well. Mix together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Add this to the other mixture, and mix very well. Bake in a greased 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1 inch jelly roll pan. Bake 20 minutes.

Five minutes before the cake is finished, make the frosting.

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then add milk. Add cocoa. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
Blend confectioners sugar into butter mixture in the saucepan. Add vanilla. Place back on low heat and continue to stir until smooth. If consistency is too stiff, add more milk.

Frosting should be warm.

Spread hot frosting on cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. The frosting will set pretty quickly.

The frosting will melt into the cake. That is what should happen. It make it even yummier,.