Chocolate Sheet Cake ~ by Sarah

This recipe came from my Pioneer Woman cookbook. If I had known it was going to be this good, I would have made it months ago.  Definitely the best homemade chocolate cake I've ever made.  And it's so easy!

Ingredients:
For the Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
¼ teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons (heaping) cocoa
2 sticks butter
1 cup boiling water
½ cup buttermilk (If you don't have any buttermilk, pour almost 1/2 cup low-fat milk into a measuring cup. Then add about 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar.)
2 whole beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Frosting:
½ cup finely chopped pecans (optional)
1-¾ sticks butter
4 tablespoons (heaping) cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 cup) powdered sugar

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Set aside.

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.

Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into ungreased 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 immediately after it comes out of the oven.

Serve to chocolate lovers everywhere!