She Makes and Bakes
  • Home
  • About
  • Ramblings
  • Recipe Index
  • What We're Eating
  • High-Altitude Baking

Chocolate Sheet Cake

9/3/2012

 
Picture
In junior high, I had to take three electives: typing (boring but useful), wood shop (ha! I remember absolutely nothing about that class), and home economics (I remember this cake and sewing a pillow). So while I want to say that this cake was the best thing to come of that year, it probably was typing. Yawn. We'll say it was this cake to be more exciting though. I remember it fondly, and we made it a lot in my house. I remember that the original recipe called for oleo, which shows you how old school the recipe was.

I haven't had this cake for years, so when I made it this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed about exactly how good it is. It's super moist (sorry for those of you who hate that word) and it's really chocolatey, even though it doesn't call for a ton of chocolate. This is a cake that you can whip up in under an hour, and that includes making the frosting and frosting it. Plus, it doesn't require a hand or electric mixer. Although I'm a big fan of fancy pretty layer cakes, there's something to be said about a from-scratch sheet cake that can be made and eaten in an afternoon. We need more of those in our lives I think.

Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe
Makes a 9x13 cake
Print this recipe

*Note: If you're making this at a higher altitude, your cake will sink in the middle unless you change the amount of baking soda to 2 1/4 teaspoons. I sprayed my cake pan with regular cooking spray, but I think that if you want to flip this cake out of the pan and decorate it, you probably should use baking spray or grease/flour.

For the cake:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon baking soda*
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons milk
1 pound powdered sugar (about 4 cups)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

To make the cake, mix flour and sugar together in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, and water. Heat until it comes to a boil and pour it over the flour mixture. Mix together. Add the rest of the cake ingredients and stir until incorporated. Pour it into a greased 9x13 pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Five minutes before the cake is done, heat the butter, cocoa powder, and milk in a medium saucepan until it boils. Don't use a wooden spoon to stir this mixture or it will taste like wood. Remove from heat, add in the powdered sugar, and beat by hand until smooth. Pour over the hot cake. Let cool slightly before serving.

Source: My junior high home economics class.
Picture
Jessica@AKitchenAddiction link
9/3/2012 11:10:37 pm

We made a chocolate cake a lot like this in my jr high home economics class, too! Oh, the memories!

DessertForTwo link
9/4/2012 04:50:28 am

LOVE this! I think it's similar to Texas chocoalte sheet cake!

Kayle (The Cooking Actress) link
9/4/2012 05:48:08 am

Sometimes simple is scrumptious :D

Karen
9/4/2012 08:12:40 am

The only things I remember making in home ec. were fried lettuce and stuffed tomatoes - I would have remembered this cake for sure! I'm glad I found you with your high altitude recipes. I can't wait to see more!

Julie @ Sugarfoot Eats link
9/4/2012 10:08:09 am

I took those same electives & also made a pillow in HomeEc. It was this ugly heart shaped pillow with lace around it! I was pretty proud of it at the time though.

Debra
9/21/2012 06:58:05 am

I remember typing and this cake and sewing a really ugly shirt that my Mom had tried to talk me out of making. lol :P

microsoft windows techs link
9/2/2013 06:57:10 pm

Thanks for sharing this wonderful Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe with us. I love cooking and I always try different dishes at home. Chocolate cakes are my favorite and I will try this for sure. Keep posting more updates in your blog.

insulation materials link
9/29/2013 10:28:07 pm

very good

Lupe
2/23/2014 03:02:00 pm

Sorry, I just read about the high altitude anyways question's are...is it 2 tablespoons + 1/4 teaspoon? And is that the only adjustment to this recipe? When you say flour... It's your homemade cake flour or just regular all pf? What other cake recipes are for high altitude? Thank you very much

She Makes and Bakes
2/27/2014 06:41:22 am

Hi Lupe. It's 2 teaspoons + 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Yes, that's the only adjustment. The flour is all purpose flour. You can find answers to your other questions and other high altitude recipes here: http://www.shemakesandbakes.com/high-altitude-baking.html

Ashley
8/20/2014 12:19:34 pm

I have a question for you (and I'm not sure if you'll actually see this since it's such an old post). It's regarding the baking soda...I compared this recipe to a pioneer woman recipe, and the only glaring difference is that hers calls for 1 tsp of baking soda while yours is 1 TBSP. Can you help me understand what the difference would do to the cake? Thanks!


Comments are closed.

     Welcome!

    Cooking is fun and easy at high altitude, but baking can be frustrating. About 90% of my recipes work everywhere, but some are adjusted so us mountain dwellers can enjoy baked goods from scratch. I hope you find great recipes on here for your family, and I'll let you know if any are adjusted for high altitude. 

    Stay Updated!

    Add to your Reader:

    Get new posts delivered to your inbox:

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    Appetizers
    Bars
    Beef
    Bread
    Breakfast
    Brownies
    Cake
    Cheese
    Chicken
    Chocolate
    Cinnamon
    Cookies
    Crackers
    Cupcakes
    Dessert
    Do It Yourself
    Drinks
    Fruit
    Ground Beef
    High Altitude
    How To
    Ice Cream
    Italian
    Main Courses
    Mexican
    Muffins
    Oatmeal
    Pasta
    Pastry
    Pie
    Pizza
    Pork
    Project Pastry Queen
    Pumpkin
    Salad
    Sauces
    Side Dishes
    Snacks
    Soup
    Sourdough
    Steak
    Vegetables

    My featured recipes on NoshOnIt

    Some Good Reads!

    Annie's Eats
    Bake at 350
    Climbing Grier Mountain
    Confections of a Foodie Bride
    How Sweet It Is
    I Am Baker
    Macaroni and Chesecake
    Pinch of Yum
    Pink Parsley
    Smells Like Home
    Smitten Kitchen
    Sunny Side Up
    The Curvy Carrot
    The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie
    The Pioneer Woman Cooks
All content copyright 2012-2013 She Makes and Bakes.