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[Mike Nolan]

I've been using the Southern Food recipe (with some changes) for Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake, but I see it is no longer online, so I'm posting my adaptation to it, with my notes. A former chef friend has told me this is the best chocolate cake he's ever had and he would have been willing to serve it to his customers. When I send it in to my wife's office, they often refer to it as 'brownies', because the cake has that kind of soft moist texture to it.

The three secrets to making this cake a restaurant-worthy dessert are that you gelatinize some of the flour when you pour the hot liquids on it, similar to making a TangZhong bread recipe, so the cake stays moist. Then you pour warm frosting on the still-hot cake, which compresses it and seals in more moisture. The final secret is that by bring the liquids for the frosting to a boil, you wind up with a frosting that tastes like fudge.

Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

Preheat oven to 350F. See note below on pan size options.

Cake:

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup water
1/3 cup cocoa (not Dutch-process)

2 cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting: (Note, I generally double this recipe)

1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 teaspoons cocoa (not Dutch-process)
3 tablespoons buttermilk (may need more later on)
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans. (Toasting them lightly before chopping improves the flavor.)

Instructions:

Put the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, soda, salt) in mixing bowl and mix to combine.

Butter the bottom and sides of your baking pan(s), then put 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in the pan, shaking it around to coat the bottom and sides. Pour any excess cocoa into the pan with the cocoa, butter and water.

Put butter, water and cocoa into pan and bring to a full boil, then pour it over the dry ingredients, then start the mixer on slow. Add the two eggs, one at a time, then the buttermilk and the vanilla. Scrape sides of mixing bowl and bottom to make sure everything is combined. Increase speed for about one minute until the batter looks a little frothy.

Pour batter into the pan, then tap it on the counter a few times or spread it with a spatula so it is even.

Bake until sides pull away from the pan and the cake passes the toothpick test, anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size pan.

While cake is baking, prepare the frosting by putting the butter, cocoa and buttermilk in a pan and heating it. Bring to a full boil Note--the oil may separate from the butter when, that's OK, it'll combine back in when you add the sugar. I consider this step similar to making fudge, you want the liquid ingredients to be near-boiling when you start adding the sugar, it makes the frosting taste more like home-made fudge.

Remove frosting from the heat, stir in 1/2 of powdered sugar at a time, then stir in the chopped pecans. If the frosting seems a little dense, add a little more buttermilk. You want it to be able to pour out of the pan onto the warm cake.

Return the frosting to the stove on the lowest setting possible to keep the frosting warm. Ideally you want it at about 120-130 degrees.

When the cake is done, remove the pan(s) from the oven and allow to cool until surface temperature is about 150 degrees. Pour the frosting over the warm cake and spread smooth.

Allow cake to fully cool before cutting, overnight is best.

Note on pan size:

A full recipe of this will fit decently in a 9x13x2 pan but you can use a bigger pan, it'll just be a thinner cake and probably bake a little faster. Use a double-batch of frosting for a decadent cake.

I often make a half-recipe of the cake in a 10x10 pan and then put a full recipe of frosting on top. I also sometimes make a full recipe and split it between a 10x10 pan and an 8x8 pan, making a double-recipe of frosting. The finished cake freezes well, so we eat one and save the other for another day.

I've actually made a double-batch of the cake batter, poured it in a 2/3 sheet pan (16x21) and put a quadruple layer of frosting on it. It was HEAVY but everybody got seconds or thirds of it, and it won the 'crowd favorite' award.

[BakerAunt]

I really like the Ron's Porridge Bread. It is not a bread that calls attention to itself, so it would be great with an assertive filling for sandwiches or with jam.

I baked Orange Scones (oil version) today to use my last two Cara Cara oranges. We each had a half of one at teatime.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomous--Here is what King Arthur has posted on its website: "We apologize for the low inventory on mixes and other items, and thank you for your patience. Our team is working hard to bring your favorite baking ingredients back as quickly as we can."

The shortages include, but are not limited to, the Irish-style flour, and the double chocolate cocoa powder, as well as the special dry milk. They discontinued the malted wheat flakes which is a favorite ingredient of mine, and I have not found a replacement source.

The post office shipping surcharge is supposed to go into effect on April 26. It will be an 8% fuel surcharge on selected packages, affecting Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and Ground Advantage. It will be in effect until January 17, 2027. (It may be longer if it takes the price of oil longer to come down.)

Here is the announcement:
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2026/0325-usps-announces-transportation-related-time-limited-price-change.htm

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, I do not go to KAF very often, but was there last week. I wanted to try the Cherry Almond Scone mix, but they were out of it. I was told that flavor sells out as soon as they restock the shelves! I have not seen or heard about any shortages, but I'm really not in a position to know. I'll be there in a couple of weeks for an event they host (with snacks!) for all volunteers in the local area and I'll check then. I no longer use their special dry milk -- I've found that any dry milk powder/store brand I've tried works just as well.

I've read about increased shipping costs due to the rising cost of oil, but have not actually seen any increases yet.

[cwcdesign]

I had some of the tuna and white bean salad I made on Tuesday. I have just enough of my lunch at work tomorrow.

Today is my birthday and I received lots of birthday wishes at work. Will will be here on Tuesday for two weeks to help while I recuperate from my reverse shoulder arthroplasty next Thursday (long hand for shoulder replacement surgery). He's looking forward to being back in my kitchen and he'll make a joint birthday cake as his birthday is April 11th. I won't be cooking for a while

[Mike Nolan]

I have the pasta kit (roller, narrow and wide cutters) for my KA mixer, we used to use them frequently but have been cutting back on pasta lately because of carbs. For lasagna I just take the dough out of the roller, cut it to fit the pan, poach the noodles briefly, and then build a lasagna.

I've use my sheeter to sheet out cookie and cracker dough a few times, it makes sheets that are nearly 12 inches wide, the pasta roller makes 6 inch wide dough, but mine is old enough and has been taken apart once or twice and doesn't do full-width sheets very well any more. I keep thinking one of these days I'm going to use the sheeter to try to make strudel dough, but I didn't go apple picking last fall.

[BakerAunt]

My husband made it clear that he had no desire to eat any of the two acorn squashes that I bought last autumn, so it fell to me, on Monday, to use one of them for lunch. I was able to go with all sorts of ingredients that Scott cannot or will not eat. I cut one horizontally and roasted it. I also cooked a pot of black beans that I had soaked overnight. To stuff the squash, I made bulgur (1/2 cup to 1 C water) that I mixed with sauteed onion, red bell pepper, and garlic, a can of Del Monte tomatoes with hatch chilis, black beans, and ½ tsp. of Penzey's new spice blend, Resist. I mounded filling in each squash half, added 2 Tbs. low-fat shredded mozzarella to the top of each, then roasted another 10 minutes. The result is tasty. I will warm up the other squash half for lunch tomorrow. I have enough filling to stuff the second squash when I roast it later in the week, as well as some to eat plain.

I do not usually make two big dinner projects in a day, but I still needed to cook for Monday's dinner. I thought that I had a package of six chicken thighs from the freezer, but it turned out to be eight, although one was small, which caused me to scramble my plans and use a 12-inch diameter pan. I decided to riff off of my recipe for Chicken Thigs with Broccoli and Orzo, which I had adapted from a recipe that Aaron Hutchinson developed for The Washington Post. I did not have broccoli to use, so I sauteed some mushrooms that needed to be used up and sauteed some kale as well. It came out very well, and I would do it again, although I forgot to add the thyme. I skinned the chicken, smeared each piece with mayonnaise, and coated the top in toasted Panko. The orzo in my pantry turned out to be whole wheat, which was a nice surprise.

[cwcdesign]

Hey Mike - it's only the 22nd today😊 and the 27th is Friday (the day after my birthday) - I have no idea what I'm making then.

Today, I made Len's Whole Wheat Rye Semolina Breadwith BA's variation of buttermilk and then I subbed maple syrup for the honey and used White Whole wheat. I followed BA's instructions for shaping and proofed it enough. Theyvrose in the oven and look great - will slice tomorrow

[RiversideLen]

Happy Birthday, Kimbob! That pizza sounds interesting!

I made pizza today, using the dough recipe from ATK for Chicago style thin crust. That's really a good recipe. In place of the water, I used leftover beer from a couple of days ago. Also subbed in some whole wheat (about a third) and some semolina (about 15%). It took the substitutions very well. I used 25% of the dough for tonight's pizza. I will probably make another one tomorrow and freeze half the dough for later use.

[Mike Nolan]

I had some milk that was getting a bit old, so I made honey wheat bread, pate a choux (50 eclair shells) an a 1.5X batch of pastry cream.

I used a 6N tip today instead of the 8N tip I used for the last batch. Makes them a little smaller, but they're still reasonably hollow.

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[Mike Nolan]

My best friend in college (and best man at our wedding) lives in Saugerties, about 45 miles north of Poughkeepsie. Last time we were out that way we had dinner with him in a restaurant that I think was in a building that was originally a Pizza Hut. Pretty good, though, I think the chef has been on Chopped.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi,

I have flour that has been in my refrigerator for years (probably three). How long does this stuff last? It's mostly whole wheat pastry flour which I don't use anymore but I still hate to throw stuff away.

[RiversideLen]

I ordered Chinese delivery yesterday, curry beef and wonton soup. I had the soup for today's lunch and leftover beef for tonight's dinner. I cooked some fresh vegs to go with it tonight (carrot, celery and cauliflower).

[cwcdesign]

I had planned to make falafel tonight, but I didn't leave work until 6. I wasn't sure what I had and then I remembered that I had bought some deli corned beef (boar's head) and some KerryGold cheddar on sale just because I might want some this week. I made a corned beef and cheddar sandwich with arugula, mayo and Dijon on toasted English muffin toasting bread. It was perfect.

[Mike Nolan]

We're having that Irish favorite: Meat O'Loaf tonight. (But at least it has green peppers on top.)

I suppose I could call it Bullin Feola, which is Gaelic for 'loaf of meat'.

(It was either that or Left O'Vers.)