Chocolate Sheet Cake
A thin, home-style moist chocolate cake with a sugary chocolate icing. It's quick to make, and perfect for sharing!
Servings: 24
Calories: 233kcal
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups flour (180 grams)
- 2 cups sugar (396 grams)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (40 grams)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil (112 grams)
- ¼ cup water (60 grams)
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup nuts (60 grams, chopped walnuts or pecans) (optional)
Icing
- 1 cup sugar (198 grams)
- 6 tablespoons butter (84 grams)
- 6 tablespoons milk (90 grams)
- ½ cup chocolate chips (85 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Cake
- Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Add wet ingredients and whisk well to combine. Use a rubber spatula to stir in nuts, if desired.
- Spread batter in a greased jelly roll (15-inch) pan. Bake at 325F for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes with just a few small crumbs.
- Cool completely before icing. I usually let it cool 45 minutes before I start the icing.
Icing
- Combine sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring often, to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter. Don't rush this.
- Once everything is dissolved, bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring constantly.
- Stop stirring, and let the mixture boil for 30 seconds. (I set a timer so I don't over- or under-cook it.)
- Add chocolate chips and vanilla. Keep over low heat and stir until chocolate chips are melted and the icing thickens.
- Pour onto the cooled cake and let set before serving.
- Cut into pieces as you serve, to prevent edges from drying out as much. Store, covered, at room temperature for 4-5 days.
Notes
Do not overbake. I cut the oil in half in this recipe, and it's a thin cake, so check on the cake at 20 minutes if your oven runs hot. The cake will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center has very few crumbs.
A gluten-free, one-for-one flour blend should work okay in this recipe, although I have not tried it.
Semisweet or dark chocolate chips will work better in this icing than milk chocolate chips, which do not melt easily.
This icing is a thin, crackly, sugary icing. Although you could let it cool before you top the cake, I prefer letting the warm icing soak or meld into the cake.
Calorie count calculated in MyNetDiary, and is an estimate only. Calorie count does not include nuts.
Nutrition
Calories: 233kcal
