On New Year’s Eve we celebrated Mini SGCC’s 18th birthday.  That’s right.  My baby is now legally an adult.

Of course, that means nothing to me. In my mind, she will always be my little curly-haired cherub.

One would think that Mr. SGCC and I can now sit back, relax and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  But, I have a feeling that our headaches aren’t over yet!  Mini SGCC is a good kid, but she is fiercely independent and knows her own mind.  That is how we raised her to be.  Hopefully it won’t come back to bite us in the butt, now that we can’t really tell her what to do anymore.

I find it ironic that we parents spend all those years worrying and fretting over our kids, only to worry and fret even more when they grow up!  I now understand what my parents were talking about all those times they said that “A son is a son till he takes him a wife, but a daughter is a daughter for all of her life.”

In honor of the occasion, I decided to bake Mini SGCC’s favorite cake: a Black Forest Cake. I’d never baked a Black Forest cake before, and frankly, the prospect made me a little nervous. It’s a fancy schmancy German confection consisting of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and brandied cherries between each layer. Originally called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, the entire cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. When made well, it is a masterpiece. When made by me – I wasn’t so sure!  

The base of a Black Forest cake is a rich chocolate cake. Most of the recipes I found used a Devil’s food cake, so that is what I decided to do.  I used the Devil’s food cake recipe from Baked Explorations, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Everything I’ve ever made from that book has turned out great, so I was confident that this cake would as well.

Although traditional Black Forest cakes are made with sour cherries, I went with sweet Bings.  The canned sour cherries I found in the market were just sad, little grayish blobs that tasted like crap.  Very unappetizing!  Besides, we like big, fat Bing cherries better.  Plus, they are easier to find around here.

Since I would be serving the cake to children, I soaked the cake in a syrup that I made by reducing the cherry liquid and Kirschwasser, a cherry liqueur, instead of just using the liqueur alone.  I think it tasted better that way.

A Black Forest cake usually has several layers.  However, in the interest of time (and my sanity), I opted to only make a two layer cake.  It was fine, though.  This cake was plenty rich just as it was.

I frosted the whole cake with freshly whipped cream and decorated it with some Maraschino cherries and shaved dark chocolate.  I think it turned out very pretty, if I do say so myself.

Mini SGCC’s boyfriend’s birthday is just a few days after hers, so the cake was kinda for him too.  Here are Mini SGCC and The Boy blowing out their candles, as Mr. SGCC looks on with a grumpy look on his face.  All together now:  AWWW!

I have to say, I don’t know what I was so worried about with this cake.  It was really quite easy to make, and it was amazing.   The cake layers were wonderfully dense and moist, and the cherry filling was absolutely to die for!  Everyone who tried it was wowed.

If you’re looking for a fancy cake for a special occasion, I highly recommend this Black Forest cake.  While it looks like it took all day to make, it actually can be pulled off in just a few hours.

My father wasn’t much of a dessert kind of guy, but there were certain sweets that he really enjoyed, like Carvel ice cream cones, sfogiatelle, and crumb cake.  Not any old kind of crumb cake, mind you. It had to be New York crumb cake – the kind with big, giant globs of cinnamon-spiced, buttery, streuselly  crumbs on top.    And, it couldn’t be the kind that came out of a box, either.  No, no, no!  Only a freshly baked crumb cake would do.  Luckily, we actually lived in New York when I was little, and there was a bakery on almost every corner in our old neighborhood.  Some specialized in Italian pastries and some in various kinds of breads and Danish,  while others sold fancy cakes and pies.  We even had a little German bake shop nearby that churned out the most amazing tortes and strudels.   But on Sunday mornings, they all had one thing in common – crumb cake.   Hmmm.  I wonder if that’s why they call it New York crumb cake? 

There were two main churches that anchored each end of the neighborhood.  On one side there was St. Francis Xavier, and on the other was St. Clare’s, which was where we went.  Early each Sunday,  just about everyone, would head off to mass at one church or the other.  Those were the days when people really believed that “the family that prays together, stays together”.  Afterward, lines would form out the doors of each bakery with people waiting to buy their Sunday allotment of pastries, cookies and cakes to take with them when they went visiting .   In every display case of every shop, there would also be some tempting variation of crumb cake to tide everyone over until Sunday dinner.

Sometimes, my dad would get up extra early and run out to the bakery to beat the crowds while the rest of us got ready for church.  Even though we weren’t supposed to eat anything for at least an hour before mass, he would let my brother and me sneak a few bites of crumb cake before we left the house.  Trust me, that was almost a religious experience in itself!

Sundays aren’t like that anymore – at least not where I live now.  First of all, there are very few true bakeries around here, and almost none of them are open on Sundays.  If you want cake on a Sunday, your only options are Starbucks or a local supermarket.  Or, you can bake one yourself.

This recipe yields a cake with a light and fluffy vanilla-scented crumb.  Some other crumb cake recipes I’ve tried have turned out a cake that was kind of dry and dense, but this one was quite moist.  I know that the star of this show is the crumb topping, but still, who wants to eat a dry cake?   You might as well just skip the cake and eat a bowl of crumbs instead.

The first thing you need to do to make this cake is mix up the crumb topping.  Just add all of the ingredients together in a bowl and smoosh them around until they form big clumps.  I think that clean fingers make the best utensils for this.

Then, mix up your cake batter and spread it into a pan.

Finally, toss those big, beautiful crumbs all over the top and slide it into the oven.  Just make sure you don’t get all woozy from the heavenly smells that will start wafting throughout your house.   And, you also might want to close the windows, unless you don’t mind having every hungry neighbor on your street knocking on the door looking for cake.

My father’s birthday was a few days ago.  It’s always a bittersweet day for me. I’d been remembering all of those simple, yet wonderful Sunday mornings my family shared when I was a child.   I decided to bake this crumb cake because it was one of my dad’s favorites.   Somehow, it gave me a little comfort.  I only wish that he was still here to share it with me.

]]> http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/11/09/new-york-crumb-cake-recipe/feed/ 30 http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/10/27/pumpkin-whoopie-pies-with-caramel-cream-cheese-filling-recipe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pumpkin-whoopie-pies-with-caramel-cream-cheese-filling-recipe http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/10/27/pumpkin-whoopie-pies-with-caramel-cream-cheese-filling-recipe/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:56:55 +0000 Susan http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/?p=3965 While cupcakes will always hold a special place in my heart, the newest trend in sweet treats these days is whoopee pies.  Yessiree folks, whoopie pies are hot, hot, hot!  And, it’s no surprise either.  What’s not to love about a creamy, cloud-like filling sandwiched between two moist and …]]>

While cupcakes will always hold a special place in my heart, the newest trend in sweet treats these days is whoopee pies.  Yessiree folks, whoopie pies are hot, hot, hot!  And, it’s no surprise either.  What’s not to love about a creamy, cloud-like filling sandwiched between two moist and tender disks of cake?

The origin of the whoopie pie is a subject for debate. It is claimed to have been invented in both New England and Pennsylvania Dutch country, depending upon whom you ask.  The most likely scenario is that Amish groups migrating to Maine in the early 20th century brought the whoopie pie to the area with them.  According to some food historians, Amish housewives would bake these desserts out of leftover cake batter and slip them in their husbands’ lunch pails.  When the men would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout “Whoopie!”.  Wherever they came from, whoopee pies have become a very popular and much loved snack food all over the country. 

The traditional whoopee pie consists of two round slabs of chocolate cake filled with a fluffy vanilla frosting.  Since Halloween is just around the corner,  I’m sharing this more seasonal version.  The pumpkin cakes are lightly spiced with cinnamon, ginger and clove, and the filling is made with cream cheese and jarred caramel sauce.  Trust me.  The combination is divine!

These whoopee pies are great little self-contained treats that would be perfect for hungry trick-or-treaters or just about anyone at all.

Remember the joys of early air travel?  You know, those days where they showed you a movie that you could hear without having to pay for ear buds,  stowed your luggage without a fee and actually fed you a free meal on any flight that was longer than two hours?   I’ll admit, the food wasn’t exactly fine dining, but depending on the airline, it wasn’t bad.  I remember flying to Rome on Alitalia many years ago and being served a pretty darn tasty veal cannelloni and a nice Pinot Grigio to wash it down with too.  Oh, yeah. Those were the days…

Now, all you get for free is a plastic cup filled with watered down soda or juice, and a choice of peanuts or cookies.  Seriously!  Have you seen those tiny packets of peanuts?  They’re miniscule!  The cookies are a much better bet.  At least you get two full-sized cookies.  And, they’re really, really good cookies too.  In fact, those cookies have become so popular, that the company that makes them now imports them all over the world – including my very own local supermarket. 

Biscoff Cookies are made by  Belgium-based Lotus Bakeries.  They are crispy, crunchy little spiced cookies, very similar to gingersnaps.   And, I’m telling you people, they are addictive.  They also make a very nice piecrust, which is where I was going with this story.

Now that we’re firmly entrenched in Autumn, I was looking to make something with pumpkin – maybe a pie or a cheesecake.  Since I had several boxes of cookies lying around, I figured that I could use some of them to make the crust.   I ended up deciding on Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with a Biscoff cookie crust.

The recipe for these bars is super easy and virtually foolproof.   I essentially took a basic pumpkin pie recipe and tweaked it by adding cream cheese and maple syrup to the filling, and of course, by using my Biscoff cookies for the crust.  I also saved a little time and minimized the clean up by mixing up both the crust and filling in my food processor.  Who wants to wash a bunch of extra dirty bowls?

I loved, loved, loved these!  The bar format worked out great.  I could cut them into any sized squares I wanted and decorate each square individually.  They were also neater and easier to eat than a pie or cheesecake because you didn’t really need a fork.  And, the taste?  My, oh my, did these taste amazing!  They were like a silky, smooth pumpkin cheesecake laced with spice and a hint of maple.  Topped with a splotch of whipped cream and candy corn, these bars are a perfect little Halloween treat!

When I was a little girl, my mother had two sets of dishes: the “everyday” dishes” and the “good” ones.  The everyday dishes were, of course, the ones we used for meals every day.  The “good” set only came out for holidays and special occasions. She had a set of “good” glassware too.  They only made an appearance when the “good” dishes were being used.  I never understood why that was.  The  good dishes were much prettier and nicer than the “everyday” ones.  Why didn’t we use them all the time?  What were we saving them for?  Didn’t we deserve to eat off of the good stuff?

My mother had special guest soaps in the bathroom too.  They were shaped like little flowers and they smelled wonderful.   But, we weren’t allowed to use them either.  Mom said they were “just for show”.  We used bars of Ivory or Camay.   I didn’t get that either.  Why shouldn’t we use those pretty and yummy smelling soaps for “everyday”?

Our house was full of things that were only for company or “just for show”.  I remember telling myself then that, when I grew up and had a home of my own, I’d always use the good china and fancy soaps – every day.  But,  I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because I often find myself doing the same darn thing!   I have to constantly remind myself that my family is the most important thing in the world. They deserve the good stuff – every day! 

Likewise, there are cakes I bake just for company, and cakes I bake for “everyday”.  The “everyday” cakes are usually very plain and uncomplicated little numbers to enjoy with our morning coffee, or nibble on for an afternoon pick-me-up.  Rarely does an “everyday” cake cross over into the more elite “company” category.  With their swooshy, swirly mounds of buttercream, and layers of assorted ooey, gooey fillings, “company” cakes are meant to impress.  Those cakes are the showstoppers.   This Peachy Keen Buttermilk Cake is different.   It isn’t fancy, but it is special.   It’s simple, elegant, and appropriate for almost any occasion.  It’s the little black dress of cakes.

I first saw this unassuming little cake flitting around the blogosphere more than a year ago, only then it was sporting raspberries.  I just knew I would love it,  and I bookmarked it.  Then, distracted by other, flashier showoff cakes, I forgot about it.  The other day I found myself with a container of buttermilk about to expire and a few peaches that were past their prime.  I was trying to think of a way to save them both, when I remembered “the cake”.  Ah yes, the cake!  It was the perfect thing!

With only a handful of basic ingredients, this cake is incredibly quick and easy to make.  Aside from the time it takes for the butter to soften, the batter can be whipped up less than ten minutes – and that includes peeling and chopping the peaches.  Plus, you get the added benefit of having your whole house filled with the most delightful aroma as it bakes.   It has a lovely, light, fluffy crumb, enveloped in a firm, slightly crackly crust.  When cooled to room temperature, it slices beautifully.  The bits of peaches throughout add a little bright pop of flavor to every bite.

This cake was such a huge hit at my house, that I’m already getting hounded to bake another one.  Why not?  I still have some buttermilk and another peach in the fridge.  This time, I think I’ll dig out the good china.   And, maybe even the sterling silver.  Just for us, because we’re worth it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and wash my hands with some fancy, schmancy scented guest soaps.

It seems like we have zucchini coming out of the woodwork these days!  Everyone has it growing like mad in their gardens and no one can use it up fast enough.  I happen to adore zucchini, but even I’ve been feeling a bit challenged trying to find some different and interesting ways to use it.   And then, I found the recipe for this cake – Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze.   The moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it.

This is not your typical, dense, leaden loaf of zucchini bread, people.   No, no, no!  It is cake. Real, honest-to-goodness cake, with a moist, light and delicate crumb drenched in a lovely sweet-tart lemon glaze.  And, it is heavenly! 

It all starts with the usual cast of cake ingredients, like flour, sugar and eggs.   There are also a few special guest stars, like coarsely grated, fresh from the garden zucchini…

And, some fragrant, fruity extra-virgin olive oil.  Yes, olive oil.  In cake!

Let’s not forget the crunchy, yummy toasted pecans.  How could anything not be wonderful with toasted pecans?

I’ll admit it doesn’t look like much before being baked, but just wait until it comes out of the oven…

And it gets a nice slathering of that delightful lemon glaze.

WOWZA!

Seriously folks, this was one of the tastiest cakes I’ve ever baked – and there was no chocolate ganache or Swiss buttercream in sight.  Even Mr. “I Don’t Eat Sweets” SGCC indulged in two slices – and that’s saying something!

I have to say, I was a little leery about using extra virgin olive oil  in a cake.  I was afraid that flavor would be too assertive, but it wasn’t.  In fact, if I hadn’t known it was in there, I wouldn’t have ever guessed.   On its own, the cake has a slightly earthy, mellow quality to it, and is not overly sweet.  The lemony glaze, however, is what really gives this cake its va va voom.   A mixture of granulated and confectioner’s sugars is what supposedly gives the glaze its crunch.  Although I thought the glaze was really delicious, I have to say I didn’t find it to be particularly “crunchy”.  But, I didn’t care.  It is a luscious glaze adorning a fabulous cake.  Who could ask for more?

I was doing a little “housekeeping” in my photo library recently, and I came across a few shots of this amazing little cake that were taken almost a year ago.  I didn’t remember ever sharing it with you before, and after doing some checking, I realized that I never had.  Unbelievable! How could I have missed this one?  Blueberry Boy Bait is one of my most favorite cakes ever.   And, I make it often – especially during Florida’s blueberry season, which happens to be now.  It’s the perfect time to spread around some Blueberry Boy Bait love.

So, why is it called Blueberry Boy Bait?  Well, they say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Apparently, that applies to teenaged boys as well.  At least, that’s what Renny Powell was thinking when she developed her award winning Blueberry Boy Bait recipe for the 1954 Pillsbury Bake-Off. The 15 year-old amateur baker from Chicago took second place in the youth division of the contest that year with her creation. When asked why she named her cake Blueberry Boy Bait, Powell explained that it was named after the effect it had on teenaged boys – “one bite and they were hooked”!

Having indulged in this luscious, golden treat many times before, I can attest to its powers of seduction – and I’m not even a teenaged boy!   Loaded with plump, fresh blueberries and topped with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar, Blueberry Boy Bait  is wonderfully buttery, moist and tender, without being cloyingly sweet – exactly what a great cake should be.  

The cake is also fairly easy to make, and doesn’t require any special equipment other than an electric mixer.  Plus, except for the blueberries, you probably already have all of the ingredients stocked in your kitchen.  For not a whole lot of effort, you’ll be rewarded with an incredibly delicious treat that will make your nearest and dearest worship at your feet!

When shopping for blueberries, look for those that are firm and smooth-skinned.  The berries should be deep purple to blue-black in color. Avoid containers with juice stains, which could mean that the berries are overripe and possibly moldy.  (Yuck!)  Also steer clear of dehydrated, wrinkled fruit. This usually means that the blueberries are past their prime.

You can use frozen blueberries in this recipe, but with fresh ones available, why would you want to?  If you do go with frozen berries, don’t thaw them before using or else your cake batter may turn green.

There are quite a few recipes floating around the web for Blueberry Boy Bait.  (Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves it.)    The one I like best is from Cook’s Country Magazine, which I originally found on Smitten Kitchen.  This version uses a mix of both white and brown sugar, which gives the cake just a hint of molasses flavor.  It also has almost twice the amount of blueberries in it, to which I added even more.   And let’s not forget the butter – all  sixteen tablespoons of it.  That’s two whole sticks, people!  I defy you to find anything containing that much butter, which isn’t outrageously good.

So, whether or not you’re looking to reel in a teenaged boy or two, you really must give this Blueberry Boy Bait a try.  I taught Mini SGCC how to make it and you can see for yourself how that turned out!

Enjoy!

Can you handle one more Girl Scout cookie recipe?  I hope so, because I have one more to share – and it’s a good one, too.  The other day I told you about what a sucker I am for cute little Girl Scouts.  After buying ten boxes of cookies from my little niece Sammie, I thought I was safe.  Well,  this morning Mr. SGCC and I were outside starting our spring planting and who do you think showed up.  More adorable Girl Scouts, that’s who.  And they were toting a big old wagon loaded with cookies – lots and lots of cookies.  As they tugged and pushed that wagon up my driveway, their angelic little faces beamed and hope sprung eternal in their eyes.  I froze in my tracks.  I needed more Girl Scout cookies like I needed a hole in the head.    Mr. SGCC was no help either.  He just stood there, mute, with that “deer in the headlights” look on his face.  Oh, yes he did.   My own, personal Perry Mason, who weaves words for a living, was speechless.    So, I did the only thing I could do under the circumstances.  I bought two boxes of Thin Mints.

And, then I took them inside and made cheesecake.  Sigh…  

Since I already had some cream cheese in the fridge left over from my Tagalong Crescents, it seemed like the logical thing to do.

Instead of one big cheesecake that nobody would probably eat except me, I decided to make mini-cheesecakes so that I could at least give some away.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t  expected them to turn out so great.   After I tasted one, giving them away didn’t seem like such a hot idea.

These tasty little morsels are super easy to put together and they take hardly any time at all.  The Thin Mints are used to make a crumbly, chocolate cookie crust and are also added to the cheesecake batter, along with cream cheese, eggs, sugar and chocolate chips. The cheesecakes are then baked in muffin tins, making them the perfect little portion-controlled snack.  Unless of course, you live with a teenager who is always watching her figure and a man who doesn’t eat sweets.  In that case,  the entire burden of eating them will fall upon you.   I know, it’s a heavy cross I bear, but I do my best to get by.

Everyone knows that chocolate and mint go together like PB&J.  Swirling them into a dainty, luscious little cheesecake is pure fabulosity!

So go out and make some little Girl Scout’s day. Buy some Thin Mints and make these mini-cheesecakes. The kids will love them, and you will too!

Enjoy!

I’ll let you in on a little secret.  Even though I grew up in an Italian family where more than half of my relatives, including my father and grandparents, were actually from Italy, I had never heard of mascarpone until I was an adult and discovered it for myself.  Shocking, isn’t it?  But, it’s true.  For some reason none of the cooks in my family ever used the stuff.  How could this be?  Well, the only answer that I can come up with is that none of them were big bakers, and mascarpone is more commonly used in sweet dishes.   Also, since my family came from the southern half of the boot, most of the food out of their kitchens was tomato and olive oil based.  Except for ricotta and fresh mozzarella, very little of anything creamy was ever used in cooking.

My grandmother was diabetic, so she really never served much in the way of desserts outside of fresh fruit platters and some sfogliatelle or cannoli picked up from one of the neighborhood pastry shops.   I guess she figured why make luscious desserts that she couldn’t enjoy herself, especially when there were so many excellent bakeries within walking distance.  And, because she didn’t bake or make lots of sweets, none of her four daughters ever did either.  They bought their cakes, tiramisu and pastries too.  I guess you could say that our entire family did its part to keep the local bakeries in business.   Heck, I’d probably do the same thing if I had access to all of those wonderful Italian treats!  Sadly, here in my neck of the woods that is not an option.  If I want to enjoy authentic, mouthwatering Italian delights, I have two options.  The first is to buy them at the one and decidedly “meh” Italian bakery in town.  The second is to make them myself.  Sometimes, I choose option one, but most of the time I go the DIY route. 

Even though the cooks in my family leaned towards the savory side of food, there were some notable exceptions.  There were always homemade cookies and struffoli at Christmas time,  and Pizza Rustica and Pastiera di Grano for Easter.  There was also this Italian Ricotta Cheesecake that made an appearance every so often.  I remember my mother poring over her Polly-O cookbook while churning out her version of cheesecake – Italian-style.  This cheesecake bears little resemblance to the super rich and dense variety that most of us are familiar (and maybe a little obsessed) with.   Instead of cream cheese, the primary ingredient in this cheesecake is ricotta cheese.  Using ricotta makes for a much lighter and fluffier cake, but also one that has a significantly less smooth and creamy texture.   Honestly, I was never the biggest fan of my mother’s ricotta cheesecake, but my father loved it.  He wasn’t a big dessert guy, and this cake was one of the few he truly enjoyed.   So, when I think of  it, I think of him.  That’s why I wanted to share it with you.  And, that’s also where the mascarpone comes in.

As I mentioned, I am not overly fond of the traditional ricotta cheesecake.  I mean I like it, but it doesn’t send me to the moon.   The flavors are lovely, but there’s just a slight graininess and wetness about it that puts me off.   When I conceived the recipe for this cheesecake, one of the things I wanted to achieve was smoother, creamier consistency – more like its New York-style cousin.  Adding cream cheese didn’t work because I felt it gave the cake too much of a sharp edge.  The flavor profile of an Italian cheesecake should be subtle, mellow and a little lazy, reminiscent of sunny afternoons enjoying la dolce vita in the Italian countryside with the scent of Sicilian orange blossoms wafting by on a breeze.   Nope.  Cream cheese wasn’t the answer.  But, mascarpone was another story.  Its silky, luxurious quality with the barest hint of sweet cream was exactly what my cheesecake needed!  So, in this recipe I have swapped out a pound of the regularly used ricotta for mascarpone.

Besides the ricotta, another signature ingredient found in an Italian ricotta cheesecake is orange flower water.  Orange flower water is a clear, perfumed distillation of fresh bitter orange blossoms that is widely used in Mediterranean dessert dishes.   It is incredibly fragrant and its flavor is quite distinctive.  It is more floral than citrusy.   You can try using orange extract instead of orange flower water, but there really is no substitute.  It’s available at most Italian and Middle Eastern markets, as well as online.

Oh, how I wish you could have been in my kitchen while my cheesecake was baking!  I’m pretty sure that the heady aroma of vanilla and orange blossoms would have made you swoon.  I did.  And, if you had been there, you would have also gotten to taste this dreamy confection.  It was marvelously smooth and rich, and yet lighter in texture than I expected it to be.  The mascarpone didn’t weigh it down.  It pulled the rest of the ingredients together and enhanced them.  This will definitely be my “go to” ricotta cheesecake recipe, now and forever.  I only wish that I could have shared a slice with my father.  I know he would have loved this version just as much as Mom’s.

They say “Everything’s bigger in Texas”. I haven’t spent much time there, but if they’re talking about the airports, I’d say it’s true.  Both the Dallas and Houston airports are huge!  I know this because I’ve spent my share of time in each, wandering about and hopelessly lost, as I frantically tried not to miss connecting flights.  I’ve even missed one of said connecting flights in Houston because I couldn’t run fast enough, and had to spend the night there, sans toothbrush, and clean undies.  Good times!

They could also be referring to that phenomenon called Texas Big Hair.  I’ve heard that  the women of Texas can spend hours working to achieve that proper, signature volume and precarious hair “altitude”.  It is even said that these big hair techniques are as secret as their family bbq recipes, and are often handed down from generation to generation! Fascinating! I’m jealous. I want a secret family big hair recipe too, but no such luck.

Of course, Texas also has George Dubya, and he’s the biggest…. Well, never mind about that.

One thing I can say with certainty that is bigger and better in Texas is chocolate cake – Texas Sheet Cake, to be exact.  Oh yeah baby, bring it on!

Also known as Texas brownie cake, Texas brownies or Texas ranch cake, a Texas Sheet Cake is a big old dark, rich, chocolate cake baked in a jelly roll pan and smothered in a warm river of even darker and richer ganache-like chocolate frosting.  And, there are about 100,000 toasted pecans swimming in that frosting too.  Aside from the fact that this cake probably originated in the Lonestar State, I’m guessing that it also got its name because it’s just about as big as Texas is!   Hmmm.  Huge, chocolate cake with sinfully, decadent chocolate frosting…  Interested? Well, read on!

I’ve been intrigued by the Texas sheet cake ever since the first time I came across one in a newspaper article years ago.  Why I never baked one before now, I can’t explain.  I always meant to.  And, now that I have, I’m kicking myself for waiting so long!  But, what’s done is done.   So, in honor of the Super Bowl being held this Sunday in the great state of Texas, let’s bake some cake!

The first thing you need to do is toast your pecans.  Spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake at 350 F. for about ten minutes.  You will smell them when they are ready.

There’s another saying that goes, “Don’t mess with Texas”, and it applies to Texas sheet cake as well. Don’t even think about using some other kind of nut.  This is just not done.  If you try it, the Texas Sheet Cake police will come and find you and then you’ll be sorry!  And, it will be out of my hands.

While your pecans are toasting, melt some butter in a saucepan and add cocoa powder and boiling water.  I used hot brewed coffee instead, and I loved the way it turned out.

Stir it up until it is smooth and bring it to a boil.

Whisk all of your dry ingredients together in a big bowl and beat in a few eggs, some buttermilk and vanilla.  Don’t ask why chocolate cake recipes always call for vanilla.  There must be a reason.  Just do it!

Add the butter/cocoa mixture to the bowl and mix it all up.

Pour your batter into a jelly roll pan and bake it for about 20 minutes.  This is when you should start making the frosting.  Unfortunately,  I didn’t get any shots of the whole frosting making/pouring thing because I was all alone and couldn’t maneuver the camera with one hand and hot pots and mixing bowls with the other.  I know I need an assistant, but this gig doesn’t pay me enough to hire one.

For this cake to work like it’s supposed to, you have to make sure you pour the hot frosting on top of a warm cake.  That’s how the magic happens.  Again, don’t ask me why.  It just does.  The cake turns out light and incredibly rich with a moist and tender crumb, and the hot frosting soaks into the warm cake, making it even more moist and delicious. Total chocolate cake bliss!

I’m told that there are some acceptable tweaks for Texas Sheet Cake.  Some of these include adding brewed coffee to the batter (as I have here),  adding a little cinnamon and mixing some toffee bits into the frosting.  But, that’s about it.  I got this on good authority from my friend Marye at Texas Well Seasoned, which is where I also found this recipe.   Marye knows what she’s talking about.  She’s from Texas.

This cake is indescribably good served warm right out of the pan, but it’s also fabulous chilled.  I froze a few pieces to hide save for later and it was great right out of the freezer.  It’s a perfect no muss, no fuss delectable treat for Super Bowl Sunday or any old time.

So, tease your hair a little, put on a Willie Nelson album and bake a Texas Sheet Cake, y’all!

Enjoy!