Texas Sheet Cake aka Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

My best friend in the world (if your bring over treats, you too, can earn this title), Melinda brought over a piece or two (or 6) of this cake last week and I was beyond smitten. And apparently, scarfing her pieces just wasn't enough for me. I had to have my OWN.

It was so good that I made an entire 9x13 pan and FORCED my husband to take all but 4 pieces to work the next day. I ate 3 of the aforementioned left home pieces.

Texas Sheet Cake
from Melinda (she claims it comes from the Betty Crocker cookbook)

Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c butter
1/3 c cocoa
2 eggs
1/2 c buttermilk
1.5 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
1/4 c butter
3 T cocoa
3 T buttermilk (I might use a bit more)
2 1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cake:
Grease a 15X10X1-inch or jelly roll pan or a 13X9X2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. With an electric hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat chocolate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute (batter will be thin). Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in a 350° oven about 25 minutes for the 15X10-inch pan or 35 minutes for the 13X9-inch pan, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Pour warm chocolate frosting over the warm cake, spreading evenly. Place cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly before cutting.
Makes 24 servings.

Frosting:
In a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth. If desired, stir in 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans.