I celebrated a birthday at work today with friends. We bought a chocolate cake from a local restaurant. The cake is moist, chocolatey, smooth and rich. I have been wanting to see if I could master the cake knowing the recipe is a secret. Well, I think I figured it out!
I kept thinking this has to be a Texas Sheet Cake, just made in a 9 X 13 pan. Then I remembered this recipe from a friend called Hidden Assets Cake. This cake also is made in a sheet pan like a Texas Sheet Cake. Tonight I gave it a whirl! I am happy with the results. The problem is, you really need to let it sit for two days before you cut into it. Thus the reason, hidden asset cake. You need to hide it to find it's assets in two days.
Hidden Assets Cake (Magelby's Cake)
2 C. Sugar
2 C. Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 C. Butter
1 C. Water
1/4 - 1/3 C. Cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1/2 C. Sour Cream
2 eggs
Frosting
1/2 C. Butter
1/3 C. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 - 1/3 C. Cocoa
4 C. (1 lb.) Powdered Sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 X 13 pan by greasing and flouring the pan. Add a piece of wax paper or parchment paper to the bottom.
Measure out the sugar, flour and salt and put it into a large bowl. (I put this into my large bowl in my Kitchen Aid.) Then put 1 C. butter, water and cocoa into a pan on the stove. Heat until the the mixture almost boils. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix.
The reason for the different amounts of cocoa is depending on how much you like chocolate. In the cake, I added 4 heaping tablespoons of cocoa. In the frosting, I added 4 leveled off tablespoons of cocoa. (You know, 4 tablespoons equals 1/4 cup.) I figured 4 heaping tablespoons equals 1/3 of a cup, or 5 1/3 tablespoons.
After I mixed the dry mixture with the wet mixture, for a minute or two to cool it down, I added the sour cream. I let it mix for a little while and then added the eggs one at a time, then added the soda. Then I put the cake mixture into the prepared pan and baked it for 40 minutes. My cake fell a little in the middle, not really sure why. I cooked it until the edges were pulling away from the pan.
I cooled the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes. I used an offset spatula to ring the pan to make sure the cake was completely pulled away from the edges. Then I turned it upside down on a rack and pulled off the parchment. I let it rest while I made the frosting.
Mix 1/2 cup of softened butter with 4 tablespoons of cocoa and 1/2 pound of powdered sugar. (I never measure out my powdered sugar. I always weigh it. One pound is four cups. It is less messy to me to weigh than measure.) Add 1/3 cup milk to the mixture. Continue to add the rest of the powdered sugar a spoonful at a time. Then add 1 tsp. of vanilla and a shake of salt. Salt always brings out the sweetness.
The secret to good frosting is beating it for 4 minutes. Set your timer, and let your mixture do its job. You might want to stop it and scrape down the sides 2 minutes in, but make sure you get the sugar incorporated into the butter by whipping it long enough.
I cut a box up and covered it with tin foil. Then I cut the cake in half to make it look like the perfect squares you can buy. Frost both cakes and let them sit for two days without eating them. Good luck! I had to try it and I was very happy with the results. : )