St. Patrick’s Day Dessert, Texas Sheet Cake

That’s right, I made an appetizer, an entrée and I even made a dessert for our neighborhoods’ block party celebration.

I recently ordered The Complete Cook’s Country TV Show Cookbook; I saw this recipe and have wanted to try it ever since I saw them make it on the show.

 

Texas Sheet Cake

For the Cake:

2 C. (10 oz.) All Purpose Flour

2 C. (14 oz.) Granulated Sugar

½ tsp. Baking Soda

½ tsp. Salt

2 Large Eggs + 2 Large Egg Yolks

¼ C. Sour Cream

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

8 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chips)

¾ C. Vegetable Oil

¾ C. Water

½ C. (1 ½ oz.) Dutch-processed Cocoa

4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

 

For the Chocolate Icing:

8 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

½ C. Heavy Cream

½ C. (1 ½ oz.) Dutch-porcessed Cocoa

1 Tbsp. light Corn Syrup

3 C. (12 oz.) Confectioners’ Sugar

1 C. Pecans, toasted and chopped

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a half sheet pan (18X13 inch).

 

Start with the cake assembly:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, sour cream and vanilla until smooth.

Place a large saucepan on medium heat, add the chocolate, oil, water, cocoa and butter.  Stir constantly until smooth, about 3-5 minutes.

Whisk this mixture into the flour, then pour into your prepared sheet pan.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack.

 

Let’s make that Icing:

About 5 minutes or so before the cake is done, heat the butter, cream, cocoa and corn syrup in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir occasionally, until everything is nice and smooth.  Add the vanilla, off heat and spread this as evenly as possible over the cake that has just come out of the oven.  *This is a key part of the recipe to ensure a moist cake, you must ice the cake as it comes out of the oven.

Make sure to cover every little bit of the cake by using an offset spatula.

Sprinkle the chopped pecans all over.

Cool the cake to room temperature on the rack for about an hour.  This may be tricky, but place the cake, still in the half sheet pan, into the `fridge to set, for at least an hour.  I had to do quite a bit of rearranging to make this happen.

Cut the cake into 3 inch squares to serve 24.

This cake can keep in the refrigerator, covered,  for up to 2 days.

 

 

This is a VERY CHOCOLATE-Y cake. Folks at the party thought that this was a tray of Brownies, NOPE!  Its cake alright, a very dense, fudge-y, cake.  It was delicious, and a lot of it, so this is why I was waiting for an occasion just like this to try this recipe.

ENJOY!

Tagged: Cake, Cook's Country TV, Ghirardelli, Pecans, Sharing