Recipe Success: Chocolate Sheet Cake

Disclaimer: This recipe isn't paleo or gluten-free or even remotely healthy. This recipe literally involves pounds of sugar and almost four sticks of butter.

That being said, that this recipe is incredibly delicious* and can feed a small army, if need be.

Tomorrow is my boss' one-year anniversary at work. And work anniversaries are kind of a big deal to him. He loves the company, and the job that he does. And since he sought me out and recruited me for my job, I feel like a cake is the least I can do.

This is the only cake that I've heard him explicitly say that he likes. And lucky for me, the Pioneer Woman has a recipe that she calls "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever." When it comes to cooking delicious, rich, buttery foods, she is your lady.

Here's the recipe, which was adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

Chocolate Sheet Cake 

What you'll need for the CAKE:

• 2 cups Flour 
• 2 cups Sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt 
• 4 heaping tablespoons of Cocoa Powder  
• 2 sticks Butter 
• 1 cup boiling hot Water 
• 1/2 cup Buttermilk 
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs 
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla 

And, what you'll need for the FROSTING:

• 1/2 cup finely chopped Pecans 
• 1 3/4 stick Butter 
• 4 heaping tablespoons of Cocoa Powder  
• 6 tablespoons Milk 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla 
• 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar (about 3 1/3 cups, if my calculations are right**)

1. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

3. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

4. In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture.

5. Pour into sheet pan (18 x 13) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

6. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.

7. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

And there you have it - a delicious cake, made-from-scratch, that didn't take a century! Enjoy!

* To keep things 100%, I've only tasted the cake batter and the frosting. But, both were delish.
** I don't have a scale, so I can't measure the powdered sugar exactly, but Google showed me the way. Just go with it.