BB: Birthday Sheet Cake

The Barefoot Bloggers selection this month, chosen by Susy of Everyday Gourmet, is Birthday Sheet Cake. We don’t eat a lot of dessert-type foods, and I’m not a cake fan at the best of times, but I decided to make it just for the fun of it, and tomorrow I will share some with the kids meeting in the afternoons for a class across the road at the Ix-canaan Library. Even sharing with the kids, it seemed like a lot of cake, (and a lot of chocolate) so I halved the recipe.

Birthday Sheet Cake
Barefoot Contessa Family Style, All Rights Reserved

Serves: 1 (12×18-inch) cake

Preface:

I didn’t have a single stick of unsalted butter in the refrigerator … as a matter of fact I didn’t have a single stick of butter at all. What I did have, was a bowl of butter mixed 50/50 with olive oil, which is what I use on bread and potatoes so we get the taste of butter with the health benefits of olive oil.

I had about half as much cream as I needed, so I completed filling the measure with home made yogurt.

I don’t have either an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, so I did all the mixing by hand.

Instead of corn syrup in the frosting, I used some of my special doncella honey, figuring that the drop of lemony flavor would marry nicely with the bits of lemon zest in the cake itself

I don’t own a 12″ X 18″ baking pan … so I did some measuring and calculating, and discovered that two of my usual baking pans have the same basic “square footage” as half of the larger pan … perfect.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Chocolate candies for decorating (recommended: M&M’s)

Directions:

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time,

then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.

For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted.

Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature.

Spread the frosting evenly on the cake, and decorate.

Verdict:

The chocolate frosting was superb, and I thought as I was putting it together that it would make a great topping for ice cream. It was much better than the cake itself, which I found heavy and dry. I doubt that I would make it again … especially since I seldom make cakes anyway.