Chocolate Almond Sheet Cake

My birthday was a few weeks ago, and while I'm not necessarily a big fan of getting older, it is fun to have a day (or two) to eat lots of yummy foods with minimal guilt. After all, nothing seems to justify erratic behavior like the phrase "it's my birthday!" Last year for my birthday my sweet husband made me this chocolate almond sheet cake, and it was so good that I ate half of it before he could even get candles on it (hey, it's my birthday!). This is a picture from last year, and you can't really tell, but the back half the cake is missing!



So this year to keep the tradition alive, I asked my husband for the same cake. He made me the entire recipe this time, so I wasn't able to eat half of it before he put the candles on, but I was able to get a good chunk out of it. You can see the part missing in the corner. He was able to get the cake away from me in time to have room left for the abundance of candles that it needed!


This cake is rich chocolatey goodness! I think was sets it apart from regular chocolate cake is the almond flavoring, it adds such a lovely depth. Also, since it's a sheet cake, the cake to frosting ratio is much more balanced then in normal cake, and I LOVE rich fudgey chocolate frosting.
Yes, this is a horrible picture, do you like all the pink candle wax, mmm waxy!

Chocolate Almond Sheet Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup baking cocoa
2 1/2 cups baking flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a saucepan, bring the butter, water and cocoa to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and cool the room temperature.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat in cocoa mixture. Add the eggs, buttermilk and extracts; mix well.

3. Pour into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. baking pan. Bake at 375 for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

4. For frosting, place butter and milk in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; add remaining ingredients and beat well. Carefully spread over warm cake. Cool completely.