The best little sheetcake in Texas

In terms of cakes, I like them all. There is not one little cake that rubs me the wrong way. Every genre of cake has its merits. Even a borderline yucky cake is just "the little cake that could" in my eyes. I would like to share with you my very most favorite chocolate cake on the market. It was the signature cake of my Grandma Salt Lake. She could rock a Texas cake unlike no other. I'm sure that you have this recipe on file in your collection, but let me reintroduce you to an oldie but a goodie. I guarantee that it will put any boxed cake to shame. Today I am also pulling my original disclaimer card. (See original post) I am going to straight up rip off a technique used by one of my favorite foodies. *see http://pioneerwomancooks.com/ Adrianne, who is the sister to my good friend Ashley, gave me the original heads up on Pioneer Woman. Thanks, A. PW's blog is an absolutely beautiful piece of work. It comes off to me like art. Plan on sifting though her pages and losing track of time. One of the things I love the most is her photography. This girl has got it goin on. She's like some sort of photoshopping witch. It's also very obvious that her camera is all that. I've never been one for the cowgirl way of life, but she makes it look pretty sweet to me.

So, when pioneer woman posts a recipe, she organizes the information in a way that a four year old could carry out the directions successfully. Pictures for everything, and I mean everything are offered. I love the way she stages all the ingredients up front so that you can get the full visual experience. I also love knowing what brands she is using. She continues by showing every ingredient being added to the mix. While it is extremely thorough, it seems like a lot of work and maybe tmi. But go on, check her out yourself. I know you will find something that you can't resist trying out.

So here goes, Texas cake goes big time. Hold on....Here are the playaz. Let's address the butter/margarine debate. I've made it using both evils. Honestly, margarine performs the best. You will get a taller cake using the marg. On this day, I only had the butter. You can even go 50/50 using margarine and shortening. I'll let you decide.

Here are the bad boys. Yes, you should use half and half, or at least, whole milk... isn't everything big in Texas?

no worries, that 'lil divot will just get extra frosting.

you knew I'd bring this little genius out.

i know, it's hard to watch.

wait for it......

Yes!! so i got a little weird on my frosting detail. tried something new and it is bugging me.

My photos are not making me a happy camper. The taste of this cake does, however. Your guests will eat it all up and your kids will beg for a piece in their lunch.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup margarine
• 4 T cocoa
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten

Melt the fat, cocoa, and water; bring to boil. Pour over flour and sugar. Add buttermilk, soda, vanilla, eggs and mix well. Bake 20 minutes at 400. Grease and flour your jellyroll pan.

the frosting goes like this:

• 2/3 bag of powdered sugar (eyeball it)
• 1/2 cup melted butter (butter here for sure)
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk product of your choice(half & half, i said)

Mix this together. You will probably need to add more milk. Just add it slowly. You cannot mess up frosting. Beat it as long as you feel like. The whippier, the yummier!

*it's possible that you may pour the batter in the pan, only to realize that you to forgot to add the baking soda. Pouring it back into the bowl and mixing the soda in will make you feel old and bird-brained. No worries, I think it might turn out just fine.