"The Best Ever" recipes

Tuesday a.m. I woke up and realized I didn't have anything pressing to bake. A cake MAYBE for Thursday night (but not a decorated one) and another small 'presentation' cake for Saturday night. I hadn't baked anything for the co-workers this week or had anything planned so it was as good a time as any to try out "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake You Have EVER Had"... I thought I had all the ingredients in the house anyhow so I was set on it.

Alright- got the recipe from ye Ol' Pioneer Woman a while back and thus far her recipes have treated me well.. (except the Pound Cake FAIL from before.. see "Beautiful Disaster")
After work, after dinner but before outdoor play time I did THIS:

The Mise En Place (boiling water, melted butter w/ cocoa powder, 2 beaten eggs, 'buttermilk' (I didn't have any so I used half and half, shhhh), vanilla and baking soda):



butter melts w/ cocoa powder, mix.. add 1 cup of boiling water, boil for 30 seconds:



Pour hot mixture into bowl of flour, salt and sugar and mix... the hot chocolate steamed up my lense, SORRY! and I had to show off my new sticker on the Kitchen Aid. Like? I love...



At this point you want to mix the 'buttermilk' with the 2 eggs, vanilla and baking soda. once that is combined, pour it into the chocolate flour batter. Mix that up and then pour into whatever baking dish you choose. Cupcakes, sheet pan, Pyrex, Bundt- your choice here. I went w/ a Pyrex because I knew I was going to be frosting and taking into work and I just like it this way. Notice I buttered and floured the Pyrex. Do it, do it, DO IT. It makes it come out easy and then you can frost all sides. Just Do IT.



OK, I let it cool off and then turned it over onto my big rectangle platter. And then I made the frosting.. Which ALSO was called "The BEST Frosting You Have Ever Had". It's an odd little recipe. Uses regular sugar (NOT POWDERED) and Flour. Yeah.. Flour. The flour tripped me up a bit. Basically, because I'M an IMPATIENT Sweet Sandy B, the flour got lumpy in the half and half...um, yeah... Well the kiddies wanted to go out and play and so did I, so whatever.



I had to let the frosting come to room temp, so it cooled as did the cake while we played. When we came back in, I dumped the frosting on top, smoothed it out as best I could. There were definite lumps in the frosting. ugh... I scooped out what I could, the frosting did taste good, but... Best Ever?? Not sure. No close ups due to the clumping.

SO, bathtime, bed time and I went for a run. It was at this point that I realized my CrackBerry died. Not like battery dead, re-charge. Like dead, dunzo DONE and Done. damn. More on that later... read a random thought- I will wax nostalgic there.. Anyhow, on the run I was like- well I guess I could give the cake to Mr. Papers for his employees. They won't care. But I really want to taste the cake! What to do... and I had already told my assistant at work I was bringing chocolate cake.... Lightbulb! Crush up some Oreo's and dump them on top. Who doesn't love an Oreo?? And, the crunch will mask the lumps in the frosting. Evil Genius Plan hatched... SEE- running DOES help w/ creative ideas.




And there you have it! I didnt' taste the cake until this a.m. and it was good. Best Ever?? I'm not gonna go that far. I just can't... It isn't as rich and chocolatey as I like my chocolate cake. I want super moist, super dark chocolate. And frosting.. well..... I am no expert on frosting and I haven't ever been big on it. It's ok. The co-workers like it and someone said the frosting was light and fluffy. hm...

I'll have to try it again when I have more patience and don't clump up the flour. But I could taste the granules of sugar and it threw me off...
you decide- I can't say run out and bake it tonight- but if you get the urge, get the complete recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site. or you can message me, I'll share ;)