Chocolate Sheet Cake and Chocolate Frosting

My baby boy turned 6 years old this past week! Six!!!! I can hardly believe it! (Okay, I'll stop with the exclamations.)

We had a small family party with one of the boy's favorite dinners (spaghetti and meat sauce) and I had him help make and decorate this cake as his official birthday cake. He loves helping me bake, and he was so excited to decorate his cake all by himself. The Pioneer Woman website describes this cake as "the best chocolate sheet cake ever" and I agree. It was the BEST chocolate sheet cake ever. Moreover, it made a huge cake so we had a lot of leftovers. When this moist, delicious, chocolaty wonder-dessert was stored in the fridge the texture turned into the consistency of a cake brownie. YUM! It was seriously like have both cake and brownies from one recipe. Awesome!

Chocolate Sheet Cake and Chocolate Frosting
From: The Pioneer Woman website

Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa (I used dark chocolate cocoa powder)
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
1/2 cup Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla
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FOR FROSTING:
1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
1-3/4 stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa (I used dark chocolate cocoa powder)
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Directions:
Note: I use an 18x13 sheet cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. 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.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten 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 the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut into squares, eat, and enjoy!

(Here is the cake with just the pecan-chocolate frosting.)

(We topped our cake with candy and sprinkles and toys; just to make it more birthday-appropriate.)

(Here is the boy posing by his cake masterpiece. Notice the spot of chocolate on his chin...)