This is a soft fudgy sponge cake that’s topped with a thick layer of creamy chocolate. The cake isn’t made with chocolate; it is made with cocoa powder. Unlike the Texas sheet cake, this one is made with oil, not butter.
Frosted chocolate sheet cake recipe
Cake
Preheat Oven to 350°F/177°C/ Gas Mark 4Prep pan – Grease and dust a 9 x 13 sheet cake pan with softened butter or cooking spray and cocoa powder.
Coffee – In a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water and coffee. And set aside.Dry ingredients – Combine white sugar, brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.Wet ingredients – In a medium bowl, whip the eggs with buttermilk, cooking oil, and vanilla extract. Then, add the oil followed by the eggs and vanilla. Combine well making sure to break the eggs and incorporate well.Wet to dry ingredients – Pour the mixture of liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients (flour mixture) and combine well. Then, add the hot coffee and combine until you have a smooth batter with no lumps.Pro tip – Use a whisk to ensure you have no lumps and do not over mix.Bake – Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake on the center rack for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Cool – Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Chocolate ganache frosting
Microwave – Chop the chocolate into smaller similar size pieces and place them in a large bowl or measuring cup. Pour the whipping cream over the chocolate. Next, add the butter and vanilla extract. Combine well. Then, heat in the microwave for a minute or more until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. Use a whisk to ensure it is smooth.Double boiler – Alternatively, you can heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to an almost boil. Then, pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes. Stir with a spatula until it is smooth.Cover the ganache with plastic. Leave to set in the fridge for 2 hours or on the counter for 4 hours until it’s about peanut butter consistency.Pro tip – In summer, you may need to place the ganache in the fridge to set it. If it gets hard, place it in the microwave for no more than 10 seconds until you have a spreadable consistency.Whip – When cooled to peanut butter consistency whip the ganache until it is light and fluffy.Pro tip – Don’t overwhip as it can be difficult to smooth. If you do happen to overwhip, add a few tablespoons of hot milk and whip some more.
Assemble
Syrup – Prepare simple syrup – Cool completely before using.Pro tip – Simple syrup is just sugar water that has been boiled and cooled. Used to keep cake layers moist.Level – Using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the sheet cake and brush with the cooled simple syrup.Frost – Place a sheet cake on the cake board or cake stand. Spread the whipped ganache on top or sides of the cake. Using a paddle motion when spreading will help smooth the ganache better. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.Pro tip – A straight-edge spatula for the top, an offset spatula, and a bench scraper for the sides work better.Border – Place some ganache in the piping bag with a star tip and pipe a border all around the top edge of the cake. I also piped the no 50 on the cake using the star tip.Pro tip – you can also pipe a border on the bottom edge of the cake.Flowers – I transferred the remaining ganache to a piping bag with Russian piping tips. Hold the bag at a right angle – squeeze and release, until you have piped enough flowers over the cake.Decorate – I used dragees to dot the flower centers. I also used gold luster dust paint to paint the edges of some of the flowers. This will help create highlights on the cake.Pro tip – 1 tsp of gold luster dust with 1 tsp of vodka or alcohol will create a paint consistency.
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Make 2 x 7-inch round cake pan. For a taller layer cake use 3 x 6-inch round cakes.You can also make an 8-inch chocolate bundt cake, or This batter would also make 15 to 18 cupcakes
