Nothing Says Dessert Like Chocolate Sheet Cake

What's not to love about a sheet cake? it’s a great way to feed a lot of people and, in my book, the more people get to eat cake, the better. I’ve simplified what is an already simple approach, so that both cake, and icing/frosting are made in saucepans on the stovetop: in other words, no creaming and multi-stepped process, just melting, stirring and pouring. What’s more, this is an infinitely variable recipe and a gratifyingly reliable one.

Traditional sheet cakes require buttermilk for sponge element, and this kind of icing/frosting needs regular milk. Rather than send you (or me) to the shops for an extra ingredient, I simply turn fresh milk into buttermilk by adding vinegar to the milk before I get on with the rest of the cake. It’s obviously not worth using an expensive vinegar, and if you wanted, you could equally use lemon juice. By the time you come to use it, the milk-now-buttermilk will look like a curdled mess, and that’s a good thing! The buttermilk is what helps keep the cake crumb so tender.

The batter is runny – and is meant to be, that’s what helps its fudgy texture later – and the cake will look woefully shallow once this mixture is poured into the tin. Do not be alarmed: it will rise, but not enormously; this is meant to be a shallow cake.  It’s perfect for bake sales, birthdays, indeed any celebration, and now I happily offer it to you as a celebration of, and thanks, for reaching 1 million of you on my Facebook page.

Ingredients

for the cake

• ½ cup whole milk or semi-skimmed / 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup soft unsalted butter
• ¼ cup best-quality unsweetened cocoa
• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the icing/frosting

• ¼ cup soft unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons whole milk or semi-skimmed / 2% milk
• 2 tablespoons best-quality unsweetened cocoa
• 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar (sieved)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

to decorate

sprinkles of your choice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF and grease and line a shallow 33cm x 23cm / 13 x 9 inch roasting tin. A 30cm x 20cm / 12 x 8 inch one would also do. Measure out the milk in a jug big enough to take the eggs later as well, and add the vinegar. Stir and leave while you get on with the rest of the cake.
2. Into a heavy-based saucepan (large enough to take the rest of the cake ingredients later), pour the water, then spoon or slice in the butter, and add the cocoa and put over a medium heat - stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the butter melts and the cocoa dissolves. Remove from the heat.
3. Measure the sugar, bicarb, salt and flour into a bowl, and fork to mix.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla to the ‘buttermilk’ in its jug and whisk well to combine. The eggs should be fully incorporated.
5. Now, add the dry ingredients to the slightly cooled pan, beating well with a wooden spoon or a little whisk, followed by the jugful of wet ingredients. Keep on beating until everything is smoothly combined and pour into the prepared tin and place on a middle rack in the preheated oven.
6. Measure out everything you need for the frosting/icing, but do not mix together until the cake is just out of the oven as the icing sets quickly and the cake needs to be iced while it’s still hot. Make sure your decorations are to hand, too.
7. The cake needs 20 minutes but it’s always wise to start testing earlier, as ovens do vary. When a cake tester comes out clean, it’s cooked. Sit tin on a wire rack.
8. To make the icing, melt the butter, milk and cocoa in a medium-sized saucepan over a low to medium heat, keep stirring with a small whisk and do not let boil.
9. Once everything is melted and smooth, take the pan off the heat and whisk in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Keep whisking till all is glossily amalgamated, and a good consistency to cover the cake. Immediately, pour over the waiting cake, spreading it out with a little spatula as you need. Without further ado, add whatever decorations you desire and leave in tin to cool.

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