Chocolate Cake for a Crowd

This chocolate sheet cake is really, really good. You really don't want to make this except for a bunch of company because otherwise you will eat it all.

Chocolate Cake for a Crowd

-2 cups flour

-2 cups sugar

-¼ teaspoons salt

-4 heaping tablespoons cocoa

-2 sticks butter

-1 cup boiling water (you can just put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes)

-½ cup buttermilk

-2 eggs, beaten

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa and stir together. 
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir slightly to cool. In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into ungreased rimmed sheet pan (or split between a 9x13 and 9x9 pan) and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing:

-½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

-1 ¾ stick butter

-4 heaping tablespoons cocoa

-6 tablespoons milk

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-3 ½ cups powdered sugar

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 let sit a few minutes to slightly thicken. Pour over warm cake.

*Note: I found that this was a LOT of icing... if you are not a huge icing lover, cut it down to 3/4 or 2/3 the quantities