Photo by @elizabethtjones
This is the cake I prepared for our New Years Eve dinner (for 30!). When cooking for a crowd, this is always my go-to cake recipe. It’s big, quick and easy to prepare, and is equally loved by children and adults. Happy 2016 everyone!
Simple Chocolate Sheet Cake
- 2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour
- 400 g sugar
- ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1/3 cup (30 g) cocoa
- 2 sticks (230 g) butter
- 1 cup water, boiling
- ½ cup buttermilk, or substitute
- 2 whole eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the icing
- 14 oz (400 g) high-quality dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa), finely chopped
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) water
Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 22×33 cm pan and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt; set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the cocoa. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and mix well.
In a small bowl, beat together buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Fold buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
Pour into prepared cake pan and bake at 200°C until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing: Place the water and the chocolate into the top of a double-boiler (or a bowl placed over a pot of boiling water) and melt, stirring to mix the two ingredients. Once the chocolate is all melted, keep heating and stirring the ganache to let some of the water evaporate. Remove the bowl from the double boiler and set aside to cool. Set aside for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Pour the icing over the cake and decorate as desired. Set cake aside for icing to cool for at least an hour before serving.
