This Just In

Memorial Day weekend I really wanted to make an easy dessert that I hadn’t made in a while.? Texas Sheet Cake seemed to fill the bill.? Because I have paid-for subscriptions to Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country recipe websites, I thought I would comb through Cook’s Country and see what I could find.

Keep in mind that I hadn’t made a Texas Sheet Cake in 20 years, so I didn’t remember the ingredients in it.? I found a recipe that looked pretty good, although in their usual style, Cook’s Country tried to improve the recipe.? I paid this no mind, as they have improved so many recipes with success that this would surely be better than the taste I remembered.? In fact once baked and iced, it looked fabulous. It smelled fabulous baking too.?

But, appearance can be deceiving my friends.? Despite the fact that it looked wonderful, it was not a Texas Sheet Cake.? A very intensely chocolate sheet cake yes…but it didn’t have the flavor or the texture that I remembered at all.? Point being, it was good for what it was, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.? I ate one piece, and sent the rest home with my company from my Memorial Day cook out.

Oh…and brought some in to the fabulous kitchen staff at West.? They didn’t think it was Texas Sheet Cake either.? It was drier, more crumbly and not as sweet.?

This will not surprise you when you see the recipes and how they differ.

Enter one Judy Benton, head cook at the school where I work.?

She had a recipe for Texas Sheet Cake that sounded faintly familiar.? I asked her to write it down for me, and the last day of school, she brought it in for me.?

?I made it the next day.?

Now that was the flavor and texture that I remembered!

It was moist, chocolatey enough, sweet enough and oh-so-fudgy!? The difference was night and day.

?Needless to say I’ve had three pieces of Judy Benton’s Texas Sheet Cake; it also goes to show that while improving on classic recipes can be a wonderful thing, some standards should just be left alone.? By eliminating the use of buttermilk in the traditional recipe, Cook’s Illustrated only succeeded in making this something different, not better.

Here are both recipes.? Try them both, and see what you think.? I would love to hear your results in a comment.

Cook’s Country.com’s Texas Sheet Cake

For the Cake:

2 Cups all purpose flour

2 Cups sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large eggs plus two yolks

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 Cup sour cream

8 oz.?semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3/4 Cup vegetable oil

3/4 Cup water

1/2 Cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Chocolate icing

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 Cup heavy cream

1/2 Cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

3 Cups confectioner’s sugar

1 Tbsp. Vanilla extract

1 Cup toasted pecans, chopped

Directions

1. For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.? Grease 18 by 13 inch rimmed baking sheet.? Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.? Whisk eggs and yolks, vanilla and sour cream in another bowl until smooth.

2. Heat chocolate, butter, oil, water, and cocoa in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.? Whisk chocolate mixture into flour mixture until incorporated.? Whisk egg mixture into batter, then pour inot prepared baking pan.? Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.? Transfer to wire rack.

3. For the icing: About 5 minutes before cake is done, heat butter, cream, cocoa and corn syrup in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth.? Off heat, whisk in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla.? Spread warm icing evenly over hot cake and sprinkle with pecans.? Let cake cool to room temperature on wire rack, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until icing is set, about 1 hour longer.? (Cake can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.? Bring to room temperature before serving.) Cut into 3 inch squares.? Serve.

Traditional Texas Sheet Cake, courtesy of Judy Benton

1. Sift 2 Cups flour, 2 cups sugar and 1 tsp. baking soda in a bowl.

2. Boil 2 sticks of oleo, 4 Tbsp. cocoa, and 1 Cup water, let cool.

3. Add cooled chocolate mixture, 1/2 Cup buttermilk, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp. salt to the flour mixture.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. 10 minutes before cake is done, boil 1 stick of oleo, 4 Tbsp. cocoa, 6 Tbsp. or 1/2 Cup buttermilk.? Pour over 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar.? Add 1 tsp. vanilla and beat until smooth with a mixer.? Pour over hot cake.? Garnish with 1 cup of chopped chopped walnuts if desired.?

Stacey’s Notes The only thing I changed in Judy’s recipe is the oleo.? I don’t use oleo, so I substituted butter with no problems.? I also omitted the nuts for the picky people in my household.

I much prefer Judy’s simple, old fashioned recipe to the more time consuming, complicated recipe Cook’s Country provided.??What’s your verdict? If you try these, please feel free to comment with your comparisons.

S.

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