December 2013 – One Stitch at a Time

I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen over the years learning how to cook and bake. The Texas sheet cake is just one of the many recipes that I have had so many complements on. When I lived in Jacksonville, Florida, I was regularly asked to make this cake for my co-workers. I ended up feeling like I was making the cake about every other day but I did not mind because I enjoyed baking.

Here are the ingredients for the cake:

2 sticks of butter (room temperature)
4 tbsp Hershey Cocoa
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of water
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs

Here are the steps on how to make the cake:

Preheat oven 350
Grease and flour lightly 10×15 inch pan.
In a medium sauce pan bring to a boil: 2 sticks of butter,water and cocoa. Stir continually until boiling, then remove from heat and set aside. Let the sauce cool some. Sometimes I put the sauce in another bowl to cool quicker.
In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients: 2 cups sugar,2 cups of flour,1 tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp salt.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Using a hand mixer begin to pour some of the sauce into the dry ingredients mix on medium. Once that is mixed: add one egg at a time and then add the sour cream.
Pour cake batter into cake pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. I insert a tooth pick in the center to see if it is done. The cake may take longer to bake sometimes.
After cake is done take out and let cool,or you can remove the cake from pan. I just keep it in the pan.
Once the cake has cooled, we are going to add the frosting.

Here are the ingredients for the frosting:

6 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of nuts (optional)
1 stick butter (room temperature)
4 Tbsp cocoa
1 box powered sugar

How to make the frosting:

In a medium bowl combine all the above ingredients. Add the milk gradually. You can always add more milk,but you can’t take milk out. Add the nuts once everything is mixed together. Mix with a mixer. Make sure the butter is mixed well into the frosting and the butter is at room temperature. Then spread frosting on to the cooled cake. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top if desired.