texas sheet cake

Hello again!!!

So it's been exactly one year since my last blog post.  During my year-long hiatus, I…

1) got glasses

2) worked at a boathouse

3) graduated high school

4) went to college

5) ate a lot of store-bought frosting

I’ve left my cozy kitchen back home for a single dorm room out here in the Californian desert.  Needless to say, I’ve been here for six weeks and I have already taken over the dormitory kitchen at the end of my hall, bought four pounds of butter, and the staff at the local Trader Joe’s already knows me by name.

Truth is, baking is a lot harder in college than it was at home. I can’t just walk down the street to Safeway to buy 10 boxes of Oreos at the drop of a hat, I haven’t eaten off a plate that’s not paper in six weeks, and most tragically, I don’t have my KitchenAid mixer here.

Regardless, I’ve realized that baking and cooking are such fundamental parts of my life, and I am going to do my best to adapt this blog to college living. I will scope out ingredients that I can find at the dining hall, and provide recipes and inspiration for other college students who want to cook.

Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me during this long hiatus. Now, this is no longer a blog about a girl baking her way through high-school, it's a blog about a girl baking her way through college (!?!). I am excited to see what this new chapter in my life brings, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a little bit of sheet cake.

With love,

Erica

Ingredients:

cake:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

frosting:
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp instant coffee granules

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x9 inch square pan with parchment paper.

Mix together the flour, sugar and salt.

Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Stir in cocoa.  Add water and allow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and add flour mixture.  Stir.

Add the milk, egg, baking soda, and vanilla and stir quickly into the butter/chocolate mixture.  Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting.  Melt the butter in a pan.  Add the cocoa and coffee granules.  Remove from heat.  Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar.  Stir well, and then pour over warm cake.

Allow to cool (if you can wait that long), and then cut into squares.

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

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