Chocolate Sheet Cake and I met two years ago in Wichita, Kansas. Karl and I drove to Kansas from California to spend Christmas with his family.
We love road trips and each other, so we thought driving 24 hours to Kansas would be a great idea. And it was. We had so much fun driving on Interstate 80 East and admiring all the unoccupied land. There is so much empty land in America and the emptiness is incredibly beautiful. There’s something really peaceful and calming about being out in the middle of nowhere.
On Christmas morning, Anna, Karl’s wonderful mom, decided to make Chocolate Sheet Cake for the family party. I had never heard of this dessert, but she said chocolate so I was onboard. Karl was super excited about the cake. For the rest of the day, pretty much all he said to me was “wait till you taste it” “it is so good” “I want a piece now” “ohhhhh chocolate sheet cake”.
Finally, the time came for Chocolate Sheet Cake. I was stuffed from dinner so I asked Karl if we could share a piece. He looked at me as if I were crazy. He told me I would want my own piece after I tried it. I wasn’t convinced because my stomach was at max capacity, but I humored him and got my own piece. He stared at me while I took my first bite of this legendary chocolate sheet cake. I was absolutely blown away. I did not know it was possible for me to love a dessert so much. Since then, I decided that my wedding cake will be chocolate sheet cake.
This recipe has been in their family for a long time, so I was honored when Anna shared it with me. The recipe is simple, but timing is really important! The end result is the most amazing chocolate sheet cake you will ever have in your life.
You start with mixing together sugar and eggs. On the stove, you will need to boil butter, water, oil, and cocoa powder. Once everything is dissolved, gradually add the hot mixture to the sugar and eggs mixture.
You will need to frost the cake while it is still hot. When the cake has about 5 minutes left in the oven, start making the frosting. Don’t start on the frosting too soon because the frosting cools and hardens quickly. As soon as the cake is finished, pour the frosting all over the cake. You have 1-2 minutes to frost the cake before the frosting starts to harden, so spread quickly!
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 stick or 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 stick or 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer.
- Add sugar and mix well.
- In a sauce pan, combine the oil, water, and stick of butter and heat them to boiling.
- Add cocoa to the hot mixture and whisk until it is completely dissolved.
- Take it off the heat and slowly add it to the egg/sugar mixture.
- Add in sifted flour and beat in.
- In a small bowl, mix buttermilk and baking soda together. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the vanilla extract and buttermilk/baking soda to the batter. Mix well.
- Grease and flour a 15" x 10" baking sheet.
- Pour in the batter and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
- When the cake has about 5 minutes left in the oven, melt the stick of butter over medium-low heat in a large sauce pan.
- Stir in the cocoa powder and mix until it is completely dissolved, then turn off the heat.
- Add the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar and mix well with a whisk or an electric hand mixer, until the powdered sugar is completely dissolved.
- Spread the frosting over the cake while the cake is hot (you have about 1-2 minutes to frost the cake before the frosting begins to harden and cool).
- Let the cake cool and frosting harden before serving.
