Since I’ve been blogging, I have frequently heard about The Pioneer Woman…The Pioneer Woman this, The Pioneer Woman that. What was the big deal? Well it is easy to think that when one hasn’t been to her site much, and hasn’t tried her recipes.
I got a wild hair a few days ago and decided to make one of her cakes.  The Pioneer Woman – The Best Chocolate  Sheet Cake. It wasn’t a real surprise, actually, I had seen a few other blogs referring to it and I was having vivid dreams about it. Mouthwatering, rich, chocolately cake.
After going to her site to retrieve the recipe, I ended up poking around only to find even more recipes that I’m sure I will dream about in technicolor. As I am on her site now, I am drooling over a Red Velvet Sheet Cake. Stop the insanity! And I have a question – how on earth does she stay so thin?
Okay – back to my cake. I’ll bet you thought I forgot!
I pulled out all of the ingredients for the recipe and started right in. I have never made a cake before where you mix the ingredients on the stove. That was definitely new to me.
I blended the first set of ingredients for the cake:
Then added the gooey chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients:
and I mixed:
and tasted mixed some more until it was well-blended:
I poured the batter in the jelly roll pan, spread it out evenly, and threw her in the oven to bake.
Next up was the frosting! Again, this frosting was made on the stove, and is more of a thick glaze/ganache. Whatever it is, it is dreamy. Â What I really wanted to do was pour some of it into a big mug and drink it, but I resisted the urge. Â Instead I poured it on top of the cake and waited. Â Waited for it to harden a little. Â My son and his friend were watching the whole thing, utterly fascinated. I had to bat them away too, so the cake could finish doing it’s thing.
Are you still with me? Or did you already head over to Ree’s site to grab the list of ingredients? Are you at the grocery store?
The cake (just as I had imagined) was spectacular. I wondered if the cake itself might be a little dry or hard since it was so thin. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was one of the moistest cakes I have ever eaten. When I ate the frosting, I swear, there was a party in my mouth. Seriously. Â This is the best cake that I have ever eaten. Â Hands down. Â My family agrees, and has been begging for me to make it again (which I will be, as while writing this post, my mouth is watering).
Okay, so I *guess* I see what all the fuss is about The Pioneer Woman. Â She really is something else. Â I was so impressed with how easy this recipe (and all of her recipes) was to follow. Â I want, need and must have her cookbooks. Â Andddddd – she has a TV show! Â I have it set up to record (I can’t remember the exact date – but it is soon!).
I am proud to say that I am now a fan of The Pioneer Woman, and I will be stalking/visiting her site on a regular basis. Â Thanks Ree!
22 Responses
OK I am not really a fan of chocolate, but that glaze looks delish. I do like her site but haven’t tried a recipe yet. Clearly I should!
Not a fan of chocolate? Have you gone mad? 🙂 You really should try some of her recipes…I am hooked!
I think my husband will be hearing her name a lot too! I haven’t tried that shrimp recipe but I am going to for sure…we love shrimp and heat. Thanks Gretta!
I know during Blogher10 yall thought I was nuts carrying around 2 cookbooks of hers waiting to meet her, for Tinker, of course ROFL!!! I love her! And if you have been to her tasty kitchen site… Beware, I swear the ideas, fans, recipes are endless….
Welcome to the P-Dub fan club…. Y’all come back ya hear 😉
HAHAHAHA! I did think you were slightly nuts, but now I know why you did it! Guilty as charged 🙂
🙂
She does have great recipes. One that I love is the Three Cheese-Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce. We had it several times over the winter. I make the sauce a day ahead of time and stuff the shells the next day. I freeze half, and our family of 3 (including a 19 year old son) gets at least 4 dinners out of it.
Many readers chime in with tips and substitutions in the comments section, so they’re worth reading, too.
I am actually not a big chocolate fan either, but this cake is the BEST!! I will devour it, and if not careful eat it all 🙂 I grew up on my mom’s sheet cake recipe which is basically the same as The Pioneer Woman, but my mom’s recipe adds a lil cinnamon which makes it yummier in my opinion 🙂 Did you hear Pioneer Woman is going to be on Food Network with her own show? i can’t wait!!
I did and I cannot wait for the show! It’s all set to record 🙂 I’ve heard that a little cinnamon in cakes really adds flavor. Maybe I’ll try a dash or two next time!
I’ll never get enough of Ree. And yes I have her books. All of them. The cookbook is ridiculous, my hips hate it but I love it. I couldn’t read her memoir fast enough, I wanted more. And I bought Charlie the Charlie the Ranch Dog book for her birthday and we LOVE to read it together. It’s so cute. *sigh* I pretty much have a blogger crush on P-dubdiddy.
I. too, have heard a lot about her but have never been to her site. After seeing this chocolate cake and frosting recipe, I may just have to head on over there to find her recipes. MMMMM
Ladies, FYI – this cake is NOT “her” recipe … she just copied it, from the many hundreds of published cookbooks out there … church cookbooks, ladies forum cookbooks etc that have had this recipe for at least 40-50 years !! … Many of “her” recipes come from these older cookbooks, she just doesn’t give credit to the previous sources, even in general.
I’ve been making this EXACT SAME DELICIOUS Texas Sheet Cake recipe for over 25 yrs now, my Aunt taught me how to make it when I was in college, and she made it for 10 or 20 years before THAT … So much for “her” original recipes !! She needs to give credit where credit is due … these are NOT her “creations” !!
I keep saying I am going to make this and haven’t yet. But will cuz I drool every single time I look at it. You better believe i have her set to record as well!
You have to try it! It is absolutely amazing. My family has been bugging me to make it again, so I think I will just have to (twist my arm, ya know 🙂
WOW looks great..yes, I’ve been a HUGE fan of hers for a long time now! Her show debuts tomorrow at 11:30 am on Food Network! woot woot! lol
Can’t wait!
Thanks for sharing the recipe! Love your pics!
Thank you! I still have to watch it – it’s all set up!
Oh my gosh that looks so delicious! I’m really tempted to start baking lately with fall soon approaching. It always inspires me to bake and make a bunch of sweet stuff! Awesome pics.
Me too! When Fall arrives, I immediately want to start making comfort food!
I haven’t tried any of her recipes yet either. I did get to meet her at BlogHer ’11 and she’s sweet. Oh, and disgustingly thin 😛
Thin ??? She looks pretty hefty on TV … figured that’s why she wears all the loose flowy tops !!
Well considering all of the “not-so-fat-free” foods she cooks, I think she looks pretty darned good!
Yes this is a GREAT cake recipe … but it isn’t Ree Drummond’s aka PW’s recipe !! This wonderful cake recipe has been around for a LONG LONG time, at least since the 1950s -60’s. It’s in many many church cookbooks and ladies jr league cookbooks. My aunt used to make this cake and she taught ME how to make it, about 1980 or so. I’ve been making it ever since !!
… and to think, I could have made it, photographed and claimed it for my own … I could be RICH today like PW is !! Of course, she was ALREADY rich, she’s married to a MILLIONAIRE Rancher in a MILLIONAIRE RANCHING FAMILY in OK. No ordinary little old ranch wife, no way !!
This delish cake is not HER original recipe. Just hope you all understand that … and neither are MOST of the other recipes on her blog or in her cookbook. 90% at least are LIFTED from cookbooks published long ago. She just doesn’t give the credit for them !!