Thursday, May 21, 2009

Dark Chocolate Texas sheet cake: sin on a plate...


This has been yet another crazy week, filled with graduations, parties, illnesses, and a proliferating laundry pile. I attacked it today, wrestled it to the ground, and tried to beat it into submission. A whole lotta good that'll do, though- it only laughs in my face and starts multiplying again. It's pure evil in a basket...



Why laundry makes me crave chocolate though, I'll never know. But crave it did, and that's when the ingredients started flying on the counter. It had to be quick and easy. A rich chocolate Texas sheet cake. The recipe I based it off of was given to me by a gal I had worked with years ago, and even though it was a very good one, I wanted an even richer, more moist, cake. So over time I have adapted this recipe to cure my cravings, and send me into a blissful chocolate coma... be very careful though. One slice can lead to another, and you could end up with thighs like my great aunt...



Dark Chocolate Texas Sheet cake

2 c sugar
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 heaping c sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 c water
4 Tbs Dark cocoa powder

Dark chocolate glaze

1 stick unsalted butter
5 Tbs heavy cream
4 Tbs Dark cocoa powder
4 oz cream cheese, cubed
2 tsp Bourbon Vanilla (tastes best but regular ok)
1 lb box powdered sugar, sifted


In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the sour cream, eggs, and baking soda. Set aside. In a 2 qt saucepan add 2 sticks unsalted butter, water, and 4 Tbs dark cocoa powder. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add to flour mixture, blending well, then add the sour cream mixture, making sure all is combined. Spray a large jelly roll or large rimmed baking sheet pan with non-stick spray, and pour all batter into pan. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and keep cake in pan.

While cooling, add remaining stick of butter, heavy cream, and dark cocoa powder into a 2 qt saucepan. Bring to a slight boil and remove from heat. Add in cream cheese, whisking well until melted, then add bourbon vanilla, and lastly, powdered sugar in small increments until well blended and smooth. Pour all on top of cake (if cake is still warm that's ok) , spread and smooth with an offset spatula. Let cake cool until glaze is set.

Cake should serve many... but depending on your mood, could be a large serving for one :-)


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14 comments:

Rosa said...

Keep it away from me. It would be one serving in my case!

The Food Hunter said...

That sure wouldn't last long in my house. It looks soo good!

Kara said...

Where do you find dark cocoa powder? Have I just never noticed it there next to the plain old cocoa powder? It sounds like something I need in my pantry (and belly!) now!

Liz Harrell said...

OH MY GOSH.. that old bathing suit picture made me snort coffee up my nose. :)

Peter M said...

The darker, the healthier, the richer and the tastier.

So...who's the bathing beauty?

Sara said...

Wow does this look good. Although I always say, you can never go wrong with chocolate cake!

Anonymous said...

hey, I think your great aunt looks darn sexy! haha!
gosh...that cake...is dark and sexy and dangerous. the way I like my man! hee hee :-)

Jamie said...

Sin on a plate is the truth! Looks so fabulous!!!! And believe me, you need not question the why of a chocolate craving! We all have it, laundry or no :-)

Norah said...

Must be the week for Texas sheet cake cause I made one too. Yours looks really tasty.

Liz Harrell said...

Thank you so much for the marriage seminar link... I'm looking forward to checking it out!
Hugs,
Liz

Julia from Dozen Flours said...

this looks soooo good. I know a lo to chocoholics that would love to dive into this.

so have you ever heard of a texas sheeth cake? Do you know if this is the same thing? My mother in law raves about it all the time and I've asked her if she was talking about a sheet or sheeth cake and she swears it's a sheeth cake. Hmm.

PS I loathe laundry too!! Boo!

Stephanie said...

Hi there. Just stumbled across your blog and had to comment! Amazing amazing ideas here. Thanks for sharing:)

Chef Chuck said...

I love this cake. We used to get a different version of Texas sheet cake at young's farm, here in Arizona.

PheMom said...

Oh, you know how delicious this looks to me! Yum!