ATK's Simple Chocolate Sheet Cake
Published January 1, 2001 and can be found here.
NOTES
1. A low oven temperature and a long baking time (40 min) produced a chocolate cake with a perfectly flat top, ready to be frosted.
2. To make ahead of when it's needed: After the cake has cooled, it can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Or to freeze, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. The cake can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting.
3. Use a 9 x 13 pan if you have one. You can use a large jellyroll pan too: the cake will be about 3/4" high and takes about 30 min instead of 40.
4. The recipe calls for coating the pan (bottom and sides) with butter. If you use parchment paper to line the pan, the corners of the cake will probably come out more rounded, depending on how strong of a fold or corners were made with the parchment paper.
5. You can melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave (less mess), but it can also be done over a saucepan that has 2" of simmering (not boiling water), in a heatproof bowl, set on the saucepan.
6. You should use a microwave-safe medium bowl, a large mixing bowl, a small mixing bowl, and a medium mixing bowl.
7. When mixing all the ingredients together toward the end, it's okay to use a hand-mixer (the original recipe calls for "whisking" but it was hard!).
8. Batter will be very fluffy and can be dolloped onto the pan.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (regular cocoa is acceptable)
1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6-1/4 ounces)
1/4 tsp table salt
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate
12 Tbl unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks), refrigerated or slightly softened
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
PREPARATION
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of 9 by 13-inch baking pan with butter or put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate pieces and butter together, cover with plastic wrap, and heat at 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. (If not fully melted, heat 1 minute longer at 50 percent power.) Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla.
5. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined.
6. In a very small bowl or in a one-cup liquid measuring cup, combine buttermilk and baking soda and then whisk it into chocolate-and-egg mixture.
7. Whisk in the dry cocoa mixture (or use hand-mixer) in medium batches until batter is smooth and glossy. This goes pretty fast with the hand-mixer.
8. Scoop dollops of the batter into prepared pan and bake until firm in center when lightly pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For a 9x13 pan, about 40 minutes; for a jellyroll pan, 30 minutes.
9. Cool on wire rack until room temperature, at least 1 hour; serve, ice with frosting, or wrap if keeping it for a day or more (see NOTES above).
NOTES
1. A low oven temperature and a long baking time (40 min) produced a chocolate cake with a perfectly flat top, ready to be frosted.
2. To make ahead of when it's needed: After the cake has cooled, it can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day. Or to freeze, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. The cake can be frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature before unwrapping and frosting.
3. Use a 9 x 13 pan if you have one. You can use a large jellyroll pan too: the cake will be about 3/4" high and takes about 30 min instead of 40.
4. The recipe calls for coating the pan (bottom and sides) with butter. If you use parchment paper to line the pan, the corners of the cake will probably come out more rounded, depending on how strong of a fold or corners were made with the parchment paper.
5. You can melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave (less mess), but it can also be done over a saucepan that has 2" of simmering (not boiling water), in a heatproof bowl, set on the saucepan.
6. You should use a microwave-safe medium bowl, a large mixing bowl, a small mixing bowl, and a medium mixing bowl.
7. When mixing all the ingredients together toward the end, it's okay to use a hand-mixer (the original recipe calls for "whisking" but it was hard!).
8. Batter will be very fluffy and can be dolloped onto the pan.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (regular cocoa is acceptable)
1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (6-1/4 ounces)
1/4 tsp table salt
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate
12 Tbl unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks), refrigerated or slightly softened
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
PREPARATION
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of 9 by 13-inch baking pan with butter or put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom and along the sides.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate pieces and butter together, cover with plastic wrap, and heat at 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. (If not fully melted, heat 1 minute longer at 50 percent power.) Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla.
5. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined.
6. In a very small bowl or in a one-cup liquid measuring cup, combine buttermilk and baking soda and then whisk it into chocolate-and-egg mixture.
7. Whisk in the dry cocoa mixture (or use hand-mixer) in medium batches until batter is smooth and glossy. This goes pretty fast with the hand-mixer.
8. Scoop dollops of the batter into prepared pan and bake until firm in center when lightly pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For a 9x13 pan, about 40 minutes; for a jellyroll pan, 30 minutes.
9. Cool on wire rack until room temperature, at least 1 hour; serve, ice with frosting, or wrap if keeping it for a day or more (see NOTES above).
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