Texas Sheet Cake

This cake is SO simple and SO good. There are lots of different recipes out there for this cake, but I used my moms. She has been making this recipe for the longest time and it is so delicious, tender, and moist. It is just an all around perfect chocolate sheet cake. Every time I make this cake, I'm reminded that it does not have eggs. My mom says it's supposed to be like that, but I think she just forgot to include eggs when she was writing the recipe. Whatever it is, it turns out perfect every time so I guess the eggs really aren't necessary. Here's what you need for the sheet cake

Butter, crisco, water, cocoa powder, sugar, flour, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar

Whisk together and set aside. In a medium size pot, combine butter, crisco, cocoa powder, and water

Whisk this constantly and bring to a boil

Turn off the heat and let sit about 5 minutes. After it has cooled a little bit, pour over the flour and sugar mixture

Gently stir that together until moistened and combined

Pour in the buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla

Fold that into the batter until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Pour into a greased 9x13 greased baking pan

Bake about 18 minutes and you will get this

Now prepare the frosting. Here's what you need

Butter, milk, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla. In a large pot, combined butter, cocoa powder, and milk

Bring that to a boil, whisking constantly (this can burn easily). Turn off the heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla. The finished frosting should be a pourable consistency. Pour over the warm sheet cake

Spread out evenly and it will be all glossy and pretty

Let the cake stand a couple of hours before cutting. (This will give the glaze time to set up). Here's the cake cut into

Now this isn't my picture. I gave the cake away and didn't get to take a picture of the inside, but this is EXACTLY what it looks like. (picture from sugar & spice blog).

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 cup crisco

1 stick unsalted butter

4 Tbs. cocoa powder

1 cup water

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour; set aside. In a medium size pot, combine crisco, butter, cocoa, and water over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Once the mixture has reached a boil, turn off the heat and let cool about 5 minutes. After you have let the chocolate mixture cool a little, pour on top of the flour and sugar mixture. Mix in until moistened and combined. Stir in buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Don't over bake! Now prepare the frosting.

Glaze:

1 stick unsalted butter

4 Tbs. cocoa powder

6 Tbs. milk

2- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a large pot, combine butter, cocoa, and milk. Bring that mixture to a boil (whisk constantly being careful not to burn). Turn off the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and well combined. The icing should be pourable. Pour over the warm cake and spread out evenly. Let the cake set up about 2 hours before serving. Enjoy :)