Devil’s Food Sheet Cake w/ White Chocolate Funfetti Buttercream with The Smart Cookie Cook

Do you know The Smart Cookie Cook?  If not, let me introduce you.  You will soon be friends. Colleen lives in upstate New York, near an area I travel frequently for work.  Somehow I feel a bit closer to home knowing I have a friend nearby.  

Colleen makes great recipes and shows how you can have them vegetarian or meat filled. I love that I can pick in choose when I do and don't want to add meat.  She is also in college and therefore the smartest cookie when it comes to easy and inexpensive meals.  Oh and she has a sweet tooth too which means lots and lots of decadent desserts.   Now if recipes weren't enough she has a booth at the local farmer's market and a YouTube channel.  You must check it out.

Hi! I’m Colleen from The Smart Cookie Cook, and I’m psyched that Emily asked me to stop by Life on Food today. Let’s all take a second to say (or obnoxiously sing) “Happy Birthday” to Emily! This girl knows how to celebrate a birthday right: with a whole week’s worth of cake. I like the way she thinks, and I was more than willing to join the party.

In honor of this celebratory cake-a-palooza, I’m slicin’ up my Devil’s Food Sheet Cake w/ White Chocolate Funfetti Buttercream. You’ve seen funfetti cakes before I’m sure; they’re a fan favorite. But I decided to switch things up. Instead of funfetti cake, I’m bringing funfetti to the frosting!

So here’s what I’ve got for you: the absolute best chocolate cake recipe in the galaxy. It’s baked up in a big, thick sheet cake so you can feed tons of mouths at this party. Then, the cake is buried beneath a pile of creamy, rich White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, the perfect complement to that ultra-dark and sinful chocolate cake. Festive confetti sprinkles make this frosting just as fun, colorful, and party-ready as it is sweet and decadent.

Now before you give me that “Oh there she goes, claiming that yet another mediocre chocolate cake is ‘the best’” business, you better bite your tongue. I’m not messing around here. I’ve had a lot of chocolate cakes in my lifetime, and I can tell you that none of them compare. You will never find another cake so unbelievably moist. I mean this cake’s crumb will blow your mind. That kind of moist and rich texture is something you’ve only dreamed of, never experienced. Plus, that deep chocolate flavor is right on point. It’s so good that even someone with an insatiable sweet tooth like mine can eat it without frosting. 

That’s kind of a big deal.

If you’re celebrating something special, then you’ve got to pull out all the stops. This Devil’s Food Sheet Cake w/ White Chocolate Funfetti Buttercream is the way to do it. You’ve got that amazing chocolate cake, fit for even an angel’s diet, plus a luscious rainbow-spotted frosting laced with rich white chocolate flavor. If that doesn’t get your party started, then nothing will.

Devil’s Food Sheet Cake w/ White Chocolate Funfetti Buttercream

Ingredients:

For the cake
Chocolate cake recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen

*Note: I cut this cake recipe in half. Double it to achieve the original quantity and you’ll get two sheet cakes (or 2 layers for one cake)

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 cups water
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup regular cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp. + 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the White Chocolate Funfetti Frosting
Frosting by The Smart Cookie Cook

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup white chocolate spread (like Natural Nectar ChocoDream or Nusco)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. heavy cream 
• 3/4 cup confetti sprinkles*

*This variety of sprinkle is particularly difficult to find in stores. I actually bought them from my grocery store’s bakery.

   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally butter & flour a 9x13 baking pan. I recommend lining with parchment paper as well.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter, water, and oil until butter is melted. Remove from heat and set aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the sugar, cocoa powders, and flour. Whisk in the butter mixture until completely smooth. Then whisk in the eggs one at a time, followed by the buttermilk. Finally, whisk in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Make sure you whisk it in well or you will get bitter-tasting chunks of baking soda in the cake.
3. Fill prepared pan until ¾-full. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a bit of crumb. Don’t over-bake, or the cake will dry out. Let cool on wire rack for 20 minutes then use a knife to loosen up the edges. Flip out onto whatever surface you plan on serving/storing the cake on. Carve off the domed top so it’s flat on both sides. If you’d like to keep the cake in the original pan, slip it back into the pan. Let cool completely.
4. While the cake finishes cooling, make the frosting. In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, cream the butter until fluffy. Beat in the sugar a little at a time until well incorporated. Don’t put all the sugar in at once, or you’ll have a mess. Mix in the white chocolate spread, vanilla, and cream on low speed. Add more cream if you’d like the frosting thinner; add more sugar if you’d like it thicker. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold in the sprinkles.
5. Spread the frosting onto the completely cooled cake in an even layer. Add more sprinkles for garnish if you’d like. Store in an air-tight container.

 Thanks Colleen for your wonderful cake recipe.  I would clearly be fighting to lick that bowl of frosting.