Kitchen

[oceantown]

This is my favorite chocolate cake recipe. Be sure to use real butter. This is easy and rich tasting. I think it is so easy too, and I love using the 10x15x1-inch baking pan. It only bakes for 20 minutes or so.

Texas Sheet Cake

1 cup butter

1 cup water

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

1. Grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set pan aside. In a medium saucepan combine butter, water, and cocoa powder. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, soda and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed to combine. Add cocoa mixture and beat until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in a 375 degree oven 20 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

4. Immediately pour hot Chocolate Frosting over warm cake; spread evenly. Completely cool cake in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

Chocolate Frosting:

1/4 cup butter

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons milk or buttermilk

2 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

1/2 cup walnuts or almonds, chopped, optional

In a medium saucepan stir together butter, cocoa, and milk. Cook and stir until boiling; remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. Stir in chopped nuts, if desired.

Optional:

Leave out the chopped nuts, and top each piece of cake with a maraschino cherry cut in half.

[DoneTryin]

I just add about a quarter to half cup of sour cream to all my cake batters - made from scratch & the box mixes. I also separate the eggs & whip the whites to soft peaks; this seems to make the cakes somewhat lighter.

[Harpa]

goldenretriever, I've been meaning to post this.

If any recipe is forgiving, it is this one! The cake is light & moist. I always do a buttercream frosting. Oh, instead of cake, I primarily use this for cupcakes. Makes at least 2 dozen or more, filled pretty high. They really puff up nicely.

Easy Chocolate Cake

2 C sugar (1 3/4 works well, too)

2 C flour (sifted or not)

½ C cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 C milk

1 C salad oil (3/4 C works better)

1 C boiling coffee

2 eggs (3 if small)

350 degrees

*************

That's the original recipe. I always add flavoring: vanilla and almond extract.

This batter is very thin. Really don't even have to mix the wet in w/ the dry...just dump the ingredients in order. You need to be careful when you are putting in the hot coffee...set your mixer speed to low! Then you have to be careful that everything is all incorporated (that the hot coffee won't curdle the eggs). I always fork beat the eggs before adding, again with the mixer on slow.

22 minutes for cupcakes (I pour the batter in my 2-cup measuring cup and then pour in the cupcake liners)

45-50 minutes for cake rounds

[oceantown]

I made this recently again for a treat for kids. This is a recipe from my Nordic Ware Car Cake Pan. Of course the kids love the car shaped cakes and this is a delicious recipe which the adults loved too.

This recipe fills the car cake pan two times. This time I divided the batter in two equal portions and I baked the 2nd half of the batter in a 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. So I think the entire batter could be baked in a 9x13 or a bundt pan.

I used Greek Plain Yogurt in place of the sour cream. I baked the square pan about 26 minutes until the toothpick came out clean.

I think it is important to use good quality pure vanilla extract. I used Kirkland brand from costco.

Nordic Ware-Vanilla Car Cakes

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease the wells of the Car Cake Pan and dust with Wondra flour.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl on an electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla until combined. Fit the mixer with the flat beater. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and beat on the lowest speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, 15 to 20 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds.

Divide the batter in half and set half of it aside. Spoon the remaining batter into the prepared wells, filling each to within ½ inch of the top. Tap the pan firmly on the countertop to release any air bubbles. To ensure good detail on the cakes, spread the batter so it reaches the top edges of each well, and is slightly lower in the center of the well.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before decorating or serving.

Wash and thoroughly dry the pan. Grease and flour the wells and repeat with the remaining batter. Makes 16 car shaped cakes.

[oceantown]

I forgot to mention when posting the Vanilla Cake recipe (post #33) that I served this cake with whipping cream and raspberries. No frosting or no dusting with powdered sugar. It made a delicious dessert. This cake is also very good just plain.

[sfnative]

Here's another cake to add to your chocolate cake recipe ( my husband's favorite):

Mocha Cake

Everybody always likes this cake, not only because it’s chocolate, but because of the light whipped cream mocha frosting and filling. You can pipe the cake’s top edge and base or simply slather on the frosting on sides and top and you’re done. The addition of chocolate fleas to the top edge and/or the entire side of the cake bumps of presentation without piping, while adding “coffee bean” candies to the top or perimeter greatly enhances the spunk of the cake.

Mocha Cream Cake

4 sq unsweetened chocolate (based on Baker’s Chocolate-better is Ghirardelli)

½ c hot water

½ c cane sugar

2 c sifted cake flour (sift before measuring)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 stick reg butter, softened

1-1/4 c cane sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs, room temp

2/3 c whole milk, room temp

Mocha Frosting & Filling

3 c heavy whipping cream, chilled

1-1/2 c sifted powdered sugar

½ c sifted unsweetened cocoa

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp instant coffee ***

***I’ve been working with this recipe for years, as evidenced by the fact that the instant coffee most often found these days is “granulated.” So, I’ve done one of two things: 1) use instant espresso powder (more punch); or, 2) use the granulated type by placing the instant coffee into a one cup measure and add enough boiling water to just liquefy the coffee so that it can pour easily out of the cup into the bowl.

In a double-boiler top, combine chocolate and hot water. Stir constantly over hot, not boiling, water until the chocolate melts. (I do this with 1 chopstick.) Add 1/2 cup sugar; cook, stirring 2 minutes to dissolve. Remove from hot water. Cool to lukewarm. Sift flour with soda and salt.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour 2-9” round cake pans. For best results, cut out parchment paper to fit inside of pan and place directly on greased bottom. Flour only sides.

In a large mixer bowl, at medium speed, beat butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in 1-1/4 cup sugar, beating until very light and fluffy – 5 minutes. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl and beater(s). At low speed, add flour mixture in fourths alternately with milk in thirds: begin and end with flour. Beat just to blend! With silicone spatula, blend in chocolate by folding into batter.

With a ½ cup measure, divide cake batter equally amongst both pans. Pick up each pan separately about 12” above counter and drop onto counter. Repeat 3 times. Repeat with second cake pan.

Bake 25 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed with finger. Do not over bake. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides with knife or metal spatula. Carefully remove layers to cake rack. Cool to room temp.

In medium metal bowl, combine cream, sugar, cocoa, salt and coffee. Cover the bowl with foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Beat with rotary beaters until stiff. Refrigerate. With long thin-bladed knife, split layers in half to make four layers. Place layer, cut side up, on plate. Spread with 2/3 cup mocha filling. Repeat twice. Top with last layer, cut side down. With metal spatula or flat knife, frost top and side of cake smoothly with remaining frosting. For finishing, see note at beginning.

Note: If your cake layers have a “peak,” you will need to trim off the peaks so that the cake layers are flat. To do so, wait until the layers have cooled thoroughly and use a bread knife to remove the peak/excess cake. Your kids/grandkids will have a good time eating the peaks.

Enjoy!

[spot555]

On 10/19/2014 sfnative said:

Goldenretriever,

See the bolded paragraph above. Here's a hint to help you. If you don't have a set, then purchase an inexpensive set of graduated cup measures in plastic: 1 cup, 3/4 cup, 2/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup. Some sets don't have the 3/4 or 2/3 cup.

Once you have these and your batter is made, pick up the 1/2 cup measure. Dip it into the batter, level off with the back side of a table knife and place that batter into the left cake pan, scraping out batter with a small spatula if needed (I bought a small bladed spatula years ago and still have it and use it all the time. I think it cost $3.99). Now repeat and place batter into the pan on the right. Keep doing this until all the batter is gone. If you get to the bottom of the bowl and don't have enough to fill the 1/2 cup measure, that's OK. Just remember to go from left to right, left to right, etc.

Also, regarding the switchout of all purpose flour to cake flour: this won't work with every recipe. If you use one of the two recipes I provided, please use all purpose flour. Thank you!

That's a good idea...I'll try it. And I won't switch out the flour for that recipe.

[spot555]

Harpa

Thanks for the recipe. I know my mom made a cake recipe that had oil in it. She could bake anything perfectly!

[spot555]

Sfnative

Holy moly....the Mocha Cake recipe....YUM. I LOVE the King Arthur Flour espresso powder. It's so good in recipes (I have 2 containers in my cupboard).

I'll be attempting some of these recipes in a week or 2. I need to practice before I bake them for my nieces birthday.

[spot555]

Oceantown

What a cute idea using the car pans. The recipe must be delicious if you can eat it plain!