Texas Sheet Cake: lovely chocolate treat in 1 hour flat. Honest.

Two years ago I posted this recipe on FB.  Since then it has appeared on family birthday tables at least a dozen times, and soon I'll be making it for an 18-year-old I know.  It's as easy, fast, and yummy now as it was then.  You can literally bang this out in an hour start to finish.  Consider making one for Valentine's Day - they will taste the love.

fastest, easiest, yummiest chocolate cake ever: Texas Sheet Cake

I stumbled across a truly wonderful recipe and wanted to share it with you special people. OK, here's the scene: it's your turn to bring the cake for a party. You have to leave in an hour. You want something yummy and chocolaty, with a minimum of bowls to wash.

You may look at the recipe below and think (as I did), "This looks weird; not enough cocoa. It won't work." Give it a try anyway sometime, gobble it greedily as we did, and then pass it on to YOUR favorite bakers.

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Texas Sheet Cake (chocolate-buttermilk sheet cake)
slightly adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens 2003 Cookbook

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder - it doesn't look like enough, but it is.
1 cup water
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (1/2 c. milk + 1-1/2 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar, left to stand for 5 min.)
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 recipe Quick Chocolate Frosting (below)

1. Grease a 13x9x2 baking pan & set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. (Using a 15x10x1 jelly roll pan is fine too; more like brownies).

2. In a medium saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder, and water. Bring mixture just to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cocoa mixture to flour mixture and beat with an electric mixture on medium to high speed until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be quite thin). Pour batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake 35 min (or only 25 min for the 15x10x1 pan) until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Pour warm frosting (below) over the warm cake - no need to wait or poke holes in the cake - and spread evenly. Leave cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly.

Quick Chocolate Frosting

As soon as the cake comes out, make the frosting: In a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter, 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder, and 3 Tbsp. buttermilk or sour milk. Bring to boiling; remove from heat. Add 2-1/4 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Beat with a spoon or spatula until smooth. If desired, stir in 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans.  We always skip the nuts and it tastes just as good.

cook this: pineapple tofu fried rice.

stolen pic, but you get the idea.

Only the rice/water ratio must be obeyed; everything else is negotiable.  You don't have to be vegan to eat it, it either; omnivores at our house enjoy it as well.

Vegan Pineapple Tofu Fried Rice
8 servings or so

2 cups rice
4 cups water
1 pkg. firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed in 1/4" dice
Olive oil
1-2 large onions, chopped.  Can't have too many onions.
1-2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), seeded and chopped
Garlic - 3 minced cloves or I just use a big spoon of the stuff in the jar
1 can pineapple in juice (NOT syrup), tidbits or chunks, drained but reserve the juice please.
Soy sauce
Handful frozen peas
Sesame oil if you have it - gives a nice flavor at the end

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• Bake tofu cubes on an oiled cookie sheet while you're making the rice and take out when the rice is done.  Set aside. (Baking dries and browns the tofu.)
• Bring rice and water to a boil; simmer, covered, for 20 min. and turn off heat.  Set aside.
• Stir-fry onions and carrots in 1-2 T. oil on med-high heat for 6-8 minutes.  Keep them moving occasionally so they don't burn.  You can add a bit of water once they brown to take advantage of the caramelization happening on the bottom of the pan.
• Add chopped pepper and garlic and stir-fry 2-3 minutes.
• Add drained pineapple and stir-fry 3-4 minutes more, until the pineapple starts to caramelize.
• Chop in the cooked rice.  Add the reserved pineapple juice plus 1/4 cup soy sauce.  Stir well to incorporate the liquid, add baked tofu cubes and frozen peas on top, then reduce to low and simmer, covered, 5-7 minutes, stirring once or twice.
• (Optional) Add 1-2 tsp. sesame oil on top, remove from heat, then mix gently and serve.  Pass soy sauce at table.