Texas Sheet Cake Bites

Texas Sheet Cake Bites - made June 10, 2018 from Life in the Lofthouse

Technically, these were supposed to be baked in mini muffin tins, hence the "bites" part of the name. It's a traditional Texas sheet cake recipe and easily adapted to be bite-sized morsels by changing the pan(s) you bake them in.

These would probably have been cuter baked in mini muffin tins but when I was making the batter, I didn't have time to go the bite-size route so I opted to go back to the traditional form and baked in a 9 x 13" pan. Easier to frost, portion and give away in less time.

Regardless, this was a good cake, no matter which way it's baked. The important things are not to overbake it and to use the good-quality cocoa powder (as always, I use Pernigotti).

2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup water
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs

Frosting
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 pound confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare mini muffin tins by lining with mini paper liners or spray generously with nonstick cooking spray then dust with flour.
2. For the cake: mix sugar, flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. Combine butter, water and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat then pour over dry ingredients. Gently mix together.
4. Fold in buttermilk then eggs. Blend until smooth; batter will be thin.
5. Using a small 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, place one scoop of batter into each mini muffin cup. Bake for 10-12 minutes; remove from oven. Cool for 5 minutes then gently remove mini cake bites from tins. Cool completely.
6. Frosting: in a medium saucepan, heat milk, butter and cocoa over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat then whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth.
7. Carefully spoon a tablespoon of frosting over each bite. Frosting will set after a few minutes.