Aunt Doris's Chocolate Sheet Cake

My Great Aunt Doris's chocolate sheet cake is famous within our family. Aunt Doris is my dad's mother's sister. I guess that would make her Oliver's great-great aunt. Holy cow!

Her chocolate cake is moist and fluffy, and the frosting is like fudge. She gave me the recipe a few years ago, but I hadn't made it because we never have buttermilk in the house. Yesterday, I went on a mission to the store for buttermilk. Everything went pretty well with the cake, and nothing was too tricky. I did substitute butter for margarine. When I went to heat the frosting, it separated a bit when it boiled, but it smoothed out when I blended it with the powdered sugar. I'm not sure if that's normal, or if it wouldn't have happened if I used margarine.

Keep this recipe on hand for the next time you have a chocolate craving and a lot of people. It makes a whole cookie sheet's worth of cake, so you can easily feed a group.

Aunt Doris's Chocolate Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick margarine

1/2 cup cooking oil

4 tbsp (1/4 cup) cocoa powder

1 cup water

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

Aunt Doris's Chocolate Sheet Cake Icing (recipe to follow)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 10" x 15.25" x 3/4" cookie sheet.

2. Mix together the sugar, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl (or your KitchenAid bowl, if you're using one). Set aside.

3. In a saucepan, bring margarine, oil, cocoa and water to a boil. Mix into the flour mixture and beat. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Beat well. Mix in the buttermilk and baking soda.

4. Pour into prepared pan and bake 20 minutes. After cooling, frost with Aunt Doris's chocolate sheet cake icing.

Aunt Doris's Chocolate Sheet Cake Icing

1 stick margarine

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) cocoa powder

1/3 cup milk

1 box (approximately 4 cups) confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

1. In a sauce pan, bring the margarine, cocoa and milk to a boil. Cool slightly and stir in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Beat.

2. Let your toddler lick the disconnected beater paddle.