Pioneer Woman Chocolate Sheet Cake

Oh heavens! Shelley and I made this last night! Delish!

Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Icing
1/2 cup pecans
1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa. Stir together. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
Pour buttermilk in measuring cup. Add eggs, baking soda, and vanilla.
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop pecans finely.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
Add milk, vanilla, powdered sugar and stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

Sigrid's Carrot Cake

So, I mentioned making this carrot cake for Easter. I thought I would go ahead and post the actual recipe because it is SOOOOO good. I found it on The Pioneer Woman Cooks and now kiss the ground that she walks on! The only thing I did different is that I added the chopped pecans to the top of half of the cake because I have an 8 yr old who can't stand nuts and an 18 month old who can't have them! It's really difficult to explain how delicious this is!!

Cake:

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups grated carrots

Mix sugar, oil, and eggs. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add to first mixture and combine. Add carrots and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured (or Baker’s Joyed) pan (Bundt, sheet cake, 9 x 13 Pyrex) and bake until done, 25 to 50 minutes, depending on the pan you use. Cool completely.

Icing:
1 stick (1/4 pound) regular butter, softened
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese
1 pound powdered sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped finely
2 teaspoons vanilla

In large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and vanilla and blend, then mix in the nuts. Spread on cooled carrot cake.

Eat. Faint. Repeat as needed.

And Happy Easter!

Love,
Pioneer Woman

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Layered Ice Cream Cake

This past Saturday, May had her American Girl Club and Birthday party. It was a surprise and I wish I'd had the camera ready when she found out! She picked out her birthday cake in July. You might have seen it on the cover of Family Circle.
15 Oreo cookies
1 Tablespoon milk
8 to 9 ice cream sandwiches
1 pint mint chocolate chip ice cream
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 pint strawberry icecream
(or make your own mix of ice creams)
1 container (8 oz) whipped topping

1. Coat bottom and side of a 9 inch round springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line side with waxed paper suing spray to hel adhere to pan. Trim paper to height of pan.
2. Finely crush 12 of the cookies in a food processor. Add milk; pulse just until mixture holds together. Set aside.
3. Unwrap 4 ice cream sandwiches. Working quickly, cut each in quarters. Stack them around the edge of the wax paper lined pan, up on the small end, packing them snugly together. Spoon cookie crumbs into center of pan; press firmly over bottom. Freeze 1 hr.
4. Remove all three flavors of ice cream from freezer and let soften for 15 minutes at room temperature. Transfre mint ice cream to a small bowl and stir until good but firm spreading consistency. Repeat with vanilla and strawberry. Remove pan from freezer. Spread mint ice cream on bottom, then top with vanilla and strawberry. Top with thawed whipped topping, swirling top decoratively. Crush remaining three cookies and sprinkle over cake. Return to freezer. Freeze overnight.
5. To serve, remove side of pan, then waxed paper. Cut into wedges
6. ENJOY!!

Yummy cake!

INGREDIENTS

	3 cups heavy cream
	3 Tablespoons sugar
	1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
	2 (9-ounce) packages chocolate wafer cookies
	Unsweetened cocoa powder

In a large bowl, beat cream, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form.

On a flat serving plate, arrange 7 cookies side by side in a circle, keeping 1 cookie in the center.

Spread with 1/2 cup whipped cream, making a 7-inch circle. Repeat with remaining cookies and cream, making 11 layers of cookies and ending with a layer of cream (there will be a few cookies left over). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, dust top lightly with cocoa powder.