This clever sheet cake is a joy to decorate and a perfect project to do with your kids. It’ll make a great centerpiece for a spring celebration and has the added bonus of being easy to serve.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 4 hr 5 min |
| Active: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | One 9-by-13-inch cake |
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray or unsalted butter, for greasing
- 3 ounces semisweet baking chocolate or chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups (150 grams) Dutch-process cocoa (use high fat cocoa, 22 to 24 percent fat)
- 4 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water
- 3 cups (600 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (330 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 cups buttercream
- Green and yellow gel food coloring
- 27 rolled wafer cookies
- 24 speckled chocolate or jelly bean eggs
Instructions
- For the devil’s food cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment with an overhang on the longer side. Grease the parchment.
- Combine the chocolate, cocoa and instant coffee in a large bowl. Pour the hot water over to melt; let sit 2 to 3 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly.
- Add the sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low to combine.
- Add the buttermilk to the chocolate mixture to cool it slightly more. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and chocolate-buttermilk mixture to the stand mixer. Turn the mixer on low and combine until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, scraping halfway through.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, 58 to 60 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan, then wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Unmold the by unwrapping the plastic, placing a fresh piece of parchment and a wire rack on top of the cake, then turning the cake out of the pan. (Cold sheet cakes are easier to unmold and have less chance of breakage.) Flip the cake onto a serving board. Trim the sides and level if necessary.
- Mix the buttercream with 2 parts green and 1 part yellow gel food coloring until it’s tinted light green. Transfer about 1 1/2 cups of the buttercream to a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave it about 5 seconds to soften. Frost the top of the cake and then the sides with the warmed buttercream. Use a scraper to square off the edges. Chill in the refrigerator until the buttercream is no longer sticky, 20 to 30 minutes. Frost the cake a final time and chill in the refrigerator until the buttercream is firm, about 30 minutes.
- Fit a pastry bag with a grass tip. Divide the remaining green buttercream between two small bowls and darken 1 bowl with more green and yellow food coloring. Fill the pastry bag with the two colors, allowing them to mix slightly, then pipe grass on the top of the cake.
- Cut the rolled wafer cookies pieces in half so they are about 1/2-inch higher than the top of the cake. Attach to the sides of the cake with a little bit of extra buttercream, leaving some space in between. Place the chocolate eggs in the grass.
Reviews
My 10 year old and I made this cake for Easter. The cake recipe is amazing and it turned out really well. Saving for regular sheet case use too!
I used my preferred cake mix but otherwise followed the directions and it looked so great! I didn’t have a grass tip so I filled a plastic bag, folded the tip up and taped it really well, and then used a toothpick to poke a lot of holes in the end of the bag where frosting came out – my own grass tip! I also put the Chick Doughnut Pops (in this app) on top of the cake (without feet). Looked like little chicks running through the grass. The cake is adorable!
My daughter and I made this cake for Easter. It was fun to make and turned out delicious!