Ok so back to my gluten intolerant friend. (that sure took a long time to describle why I decided to bake....geez!) I wanted to bake something we all could enjoy, and had all the ingredients in the house. I've been slightly obsessed with the Pioneer Woman's blog for awhile now, so in these situations I tend to ask myself, WWRD? (What would Ree do?) And I thought, I'll make her "Best Ever Chocolate Sheet Cake"! Brilliant! So I did...here's the recipe from PW's page, and here is what I subbed out to make it gluten free. (And let me tell you....it lived up to it's name!!)
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE: - 2 cups Flour (I used gluten free all purpose flour)
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
- 2 sticks Butter
- 1 cup Boiling Water
- 1/2 cup Buttermilk (we didn't have this, so I followed PW's tip of subbing milk w/ a splash of white vinegar) ((pps: I didn't have milk, so I used half & half and it turned out fine!))
- 2 whole Beaten Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
FROSTING:
- 1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans (I omitted)
- 1-3/4 stick Butter
- 4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
- 6 Tablespoons Milk (I used half & half...didn't have milk)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar
Preparation Instructions
Use an 18x13 sheet cake pan. (I halfed the recipe, so I used an 8x8 pyrex dish)In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes. (mine had to go a little longer....about 27-28 minutes)
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.
Here's a pic of it from PW's page:
This cake was amazing....the girls couldn't even tell it was gluten free...jackpot! Can you imagine how good it would be if I used regular flour?! Mercy! Pioneer Woman uses this cake all the time for birthdays, celebrations, etc. Imagine all you could do to decorate it! This cake could be used at any occasion, or when you have a chocolate fix, like I did on Saturday night.
