Servings : Makes one 9x11 cake
A sheet cake is basically a single layer cake that is baked on a sheet pan or a swiss roll pan, and frosted. This moist, rich and chocolatey cake, with its minimum-fuss yet incredibly delicious frosting, is one of my fave quick-fix cakes. It is ideal for those ‘bring-a-dish’ parties coz it works beautifully as a dessert served warm or cold or with a scoop of ice-cream. My fave thing about this cake is that it is frosted whilst still warm and in the pan it is baked in. You don’t have to turn the cake out onto a rack or let it cool. Just bake, prepare the frosting and pour it over the warm cake and serve!
Ingredients for Chocolate Sheet Cake
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 heaped tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup butter (salted or unsalted)
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 tsp. instant coffee powder (optional)
- 1/4 cup buttermilk (or add 2 tsp. of lemon/vinegar to 1/4 cup milk and let it stand for 10 minutes)
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
Ingredients for Quick-Fix Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
- pinch of salt
- 3-4 tbsp. milk
- 1/2 cup nuts, chopped (use any that you like - almonds/cashews/hazelnuts/pecans/walnuts etc)
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups icing sugar (if possible, sieve this to remove lumps)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
Instructions
Grease a 9×11 sheet pan. You do not have to line it as this cake will be served from the same pan that it is baked in.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
In a big bowl, sift the flour and baking soda, then add the sugar and salt, combine and set aside. In a second smaller bowl, put the buttermilk, egg and vanilla and mix lightly with a fork. Set this aside too.
In a saucepan, put the butter, oil, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and water and bring to a boil. Take it off the heat and pour over the flour mixture in the big bowl. Stir lightly to allow it to cool.
Add the egg, buttermilk and vanilla mixture to the flour/butter mixture and stir everything together one final time. Pour into your greased pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Place your pan on a wire rack. As it starts to cool, you can quickly prepare the frosting.
You can omit the nuts if you are allergic to them. Later you can decorate your cake with sprinkles or smarties.
If possible, use ROASTED nuts, they add an incredible crunchy texture and flavour.
In a saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa, salt and milk to a boil.
Remove them from heat and add the icing sugar, nuts, and vanilla. Stir to combine. You can add more milk to thin out the consistency if you prefer, or more icing sugar to thicken it. This frosting thickens as it cools, so do not make it too thick.
Pour over the warm cake, spread with a spatula.
Now take a spoon and dig into the warm, rich and chocolatey cake! YUM!!
Enjoy! 🙂
