Chocolate Sheet Cake

I can come up with just about any excuse to bake a cake.  Birthdays, anniversaries and showers are all great excuses to indulge in cake but sometimes you've got to create your own cake worthy event.  The grandparents are coming to town, one of the kids makes a good grade on a test, it's Monday, it's raining - admittedly some excuses are better than others.  😂

Last weekend I baked a cake - for absolutely no reason at all.   That's right - I said it and I'm not ashamed.  I ate cake in the middle of the week, just because I wanted to and  I'm not even going to try and come up with an excuse.  

I didn't want to invest a lot of time into making an overly extravagant cake.  I just wanted a decadent chocolatey cake that I could whip up in under 30 minutes.  I also didn't want a cake so big that it would feed the masses.  Eight inch chocolate sheet cake to the rescue.  

I'm not a 100% clear on the definition of a sheet cake.  To be honest, I always thought that the name was derived from the pan that it was cooked in.   I assumed that all sheet cake was made on a cookie sheet.   Silly me.  Turns out, sheet cakes can be baked in any pan.  For my little family, a square 8" pan is a perfect sheet cake size. 

Chocolate Sheet Cake
Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 T flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting
1/2 pound milk chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
8 Tablespoons butter

Whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda and salt. 

Combine milk, chocolate and cocoa in saucepan.  

Cook over low heat until chocolate is melted.  Remove from heat.  Cool 5 minutes. 

Whisk oil, eggs and vanilla into cooled chocolate mixture.  

Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. 

Transfer batter to a greased 8" pan.   

Bake 30-35 minutes at 325.  Let cool 1-2 hours. 

Combine chocolate and cream for frosting in bowl of standing mixer.  

Set bowl over saucepan with 1" simmering water.  Whisk 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in butter, 1 T. at a time. Let stand 5 minutes. 

Whisk until completely smooth.  Refrigerate frosting until cooled and thickened.  (30-60 minutes)

Whisk cooled frosting until smooth.  

Spread frosting over cake. 

I bake a lot of cakes but I rarely make sheet cakes.  The question that I'm now wondering now is WHY?  Sheet cakes are so easy to make, they're delicious and they're infinitely easier to transport and store than traditional layer cakes.  I am going to have to make more sheet cakes.  Tomorrow I have to tackle massive piles of laundry and clean my house - that's a perfect excuse to bake another chocolate sheet cake.  Don't you think? 

​Ciao!  

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