by Carolyn Herbert
Serves: 32 people.
Preparation: 10 minutes. Cook: 20 minutes.
For the Cake:
For the Icing:
• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10 X 15 inch Jelly Roll Pan. Combine the Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda and Salt in a mixing bowl. Beat in the Sour Cream and Eggs.
• Melt the Butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir in the Water and Cocoa Powder. Bring that mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Allow to cool somewhat, then stir this into the flour mix until blended. Pour this batter into the greased pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
• While the Cake is baking, for the icing, combine Milk, Cocoa Powder and Butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the Confectioners Sugar and Vanilla Extract. Stir in Nuts if you like. Mix until fully blended. Don't let it cool before icing. Ice the warm Cake with an icing spatula. Cut the Cake into 32 bite-sized pieces when it's cool.
"Texas Sheet Cake" - this large cake is sweet enough that just a small piece is 28g of Sugar. The Sour Cream in the batter makes the cake moist and slightly tangy. It seems to originate in Texas in a historic newspaper. It's also referred to as "The Church Lady Cake". It's now popular throughout the mid-west.
