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The moistest, most delicious cake you'll ever find. And this Chocolate Obsession Cake is also the easiest, which might be the best part!
I actually made the name up a number of years ago when I was teaching a cooking class revolving around preparing an elegant Valentine Dinner. I mean really, does Texas Sheet Cake (the real name) sound like a fancy-dancy sophisticated Valentine dessert? It doesn't in my book but it is a fabulous cake; rich and decadent, dense yet light and delicious enough to qualify as a gourmet indulgence - so I just gave it a festive new moniker and a bit of a face-lift! Tada! Chocolate Obsession Cake!
Whether you decide to call this yummy dessert Texas Sheet Cake or gussy it up a bit for a special occasion, like New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day or a loved one's birthday and call it Chocolate Obsession Cake, I have a feeling that once you try it, it will become a favorite at your house also!
The moistest most delicious cake you'll ever find. It's also the easiest, which is the best part!
- Ingredients for the cake:
- 2 sticks butter
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup cocoa
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Ingredients for the icing:
- 1 stick butter
- 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate 4 1-ounce squares
- ½ cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar approximately
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
-
Preheat oven to 350˚.
-
Place butter, water, and cocoa in microwave safe dish. Microwave 3 minutes, stirring once about halfway through.
-
Add sugar and flour and whisk until smooth.
-
Add eggs and buttermilk, salt and soda and mix well. Stir in vanilla.
-
Prepare pan (or pans) by spraying generously with baking spray.
-
Pour batter into pan or pans. (For muffin pans, I used about ¼ cup batter per cake.) Bake 25-30 minutes for 11" x15" pan or 15-25 minutes for cake pans or muffin pans. When the cake is done, it will bounce back when lightly touched. Another way to tell if it is done is to insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake and pull it out. If the cake is done, the toothpick will come out clean or with a few crumbs, not coated with batter.
-
Remove from oven and frost as directed below.
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For the frosting, place butter and baking chocolate in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 1 ½ minutes or until chocolate is melted. Stir until blended with a wire whisk.
-
Add milk and vanilla. Mix well. Slowly add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Frosting should be thick but still pourable when warm. If too thin add a bit more powdered sugar. If too thick add a little extra milk.
I used square muffin pans for my cakes in the pictures above.
For sheet pan-type cake use a 11" x15" pan.
For round cakes use two 9" cake pans.
For individual cakes use two (12 cup) muffin pans.
For sheet cake - Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes, then pour warm frosting over cake in pan and spread with an off-set knife to distribute evenly. If you can stand to wait :), allow to cool before cutting into squares and serving.
For round cakes - Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack and allow to cool for another 30 minutes. Set cooling rack with cakes on top of a large piece of foil. Pour about one quarter of the frosting out onto each cake and spread with an off set knife to spread frosting across top and over edges of cake. Add a bit more frosting if needed to completely cover top and sides of cake. Excess frosting will drip through wire rack onto foil (Try to do this when your husband, children or best friend isn't around!) Allow frosted cake to sit for 10 minutes, then decoratively drizzle more frosting back and forth across top of cake. Repeat as desired until frosting is used up or desired thickness of frosting is achieved. If necessary, scrape excess frosting off of foil into bowl. If frosting gets too thick to drizzle at any point, return to microwave for 20-30 seconds, then whisk well until smooth.
For individual cakes, allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes then invert onto cooling racks placed on top of large sheets of foil; proceed to frost as directed above - using about 1½-2 tablespoons of frosting per cupcake and drizzling second layer as directed.
Sue Young says
Hi … love your recipes! 3 questions pls….
What is the weight of a “stick” of butter. We don’t call them sticks her3 in Australia… it’s all by weight.
2nd. I’ve bought some gorgeous silicone moulds in various shapes… mainly flowers. Will these work with this recipe? I want to either dust with icing sugar or use your dip and flip icing method 😉
What I really wanted was a great chocolate brownie recipe to use these cake molds … so for #3 … do you have a “ridiculously fantastic” chocolate brownie recipe that would be a show stopper for Valentine’s Day treats?
Sue x
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Sue, happy to answer your quesion!
Butter is sold here in the US in 1 pound cartons with 4 "sticks' in each carton. Each stick is 4 ounces or 113g.
I think you silicone mold should work fine for this recipe.
Regarding the brownies, I working on a recipe right now and am quite happy with it. I'm not sure exactly when we will photograph it though.
Pamela McFadden says
Hello, I have two questions…. Is your square muffin pan silicone or metal? And also, what is the size of each little cake when made in these square pans?
Thanks, Pamela
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Pamela, my muffin pan is metal and each cake is 2.6x2.6. This is the muffin pan I use: https://amzn.to/3Mtz6iP
Pamela McFadden says
Thanks very much!
Sharon says
Butter: salted or unsalted. Thanks!!
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Hi Sharon, we always use salted.
Elizabeth says
If I bake the cake in muffin tins can I use muffin wrappers?
Thanks
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Elizabeth, you definitely can however the cakes will have the little indented ridges from the papers. If you spray the pan well with baking spray, the cakes will come out without difficulty.
Michelle gatz says
Best chocolate cake I ever had. So moist. Made it for my husband and he loved. He said it’s a keeper!
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Michelle!
Francie says
This cake is wonderful!
Any suggestions on how to freeze?
Thanks
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Francie, you can cut it into slices and freeze on a plate. Once frozen you can wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in Tupperware or freezer bags. You could also freeze it in the pan you baked it in.
Amrita Rajagopal says
This is such a brilliant recipe! Simple but so effective. I made this cake for my husband's birthday as he is a big chocolate addict...he was beyond happy 🙂 I'm not so hot on chocolate cake and couldn't stop eating this cake either!
Thanks for the details on different cake sizes/pans. Very useful.
Another Cafe recipe that I'm bookmarking for making again and again 🙂 Thank you so much!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Amrita! It's one of our family's all time favorite recipes!
Rocio says
Hi! This recipe sounds amazing and I would like to try it, but I have a question. At the moment, I do not have a microwave, can I do the same process in the stove and how? Thank you in advance!
Chris Scheuer says
Absolutely, that will work fine, Rocio!
Claire Van Allen says
As we have to stay in more at this time, and restaurants/bars etc are closed, it meant no outing for us so I decided to bake my birthday cake. Although mine were not as pretty as yours (mine had a little dome on top) they were absolutely delicious. Again thank you
Chris Scheuer says
Happy Birthday, Claire! I'm glad you enjoyed this cake 💕
Sara says
Dutch processed or regular cocoa? Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Regular. Enjoy!
Diane says
How do you get the round cake off of the wire rack and onto a serving plate once it’s ftosted? I used a spatula to lift it off and pushed it onto the plate but it collapsed the underside of the cake on one side. Fortunately my family didn’t care what it looks like because it was absolutely amazing! How do you do remove it safely?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Diane, I have large cake spatula like this one: http://amzn.to/2yApgVY
It works great. I've also done it with two regular size metal spatulas, one under each side. Have the serving plate right next to the wire rack. So happy you enjoyed it anyway 🙂
ANNE KAVANAGH says
wHAT IS THE EQUIVALENT IN POUNDS AND OUNCES OR GRAMMES TO A "CUP" IN YOUR RECIPE. YOUR CAKE LOOKS AND SOUNDS DELICIOUS. I WOULD LIKE TO TRY IT. BUT THE "CUP" MEASUREMENTS HAVE STOPPED ME .
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Anne,
It's easy to convert. Here is a chart that's really helpful: http://dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Sophia Del Gigante says
This is AMAZING! Yummmmm butter in cake sounds so sinfully good!