Page 178 - Chocolate Cake Doctor

S h e e t C a k e s

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he chocolate layer cake may be sale, church supper, and neighborhood
America’s most beloved cake, picnic—but seldom at a yard sale be -
aglow with candles and sur- cause these pans don’t wear out!
rounded by birthday nostalgia, Before going further, I want to say for
but the flatter, larger chocolate sheet the record that the name “sheet cake”

cake is certainly the most versatile. may not be technically correct. The first
Baked in pans that range from 13 sheet cakes were wafer-thin cakes
to 16 inches long and from 9 baked in what resembled a
to 12 inches wide, this is jelly-roll pan. They were
the cake that America frosted and sliced. But
bakes most often. The cake through the years “sheet
mix companies know that from cake” has come to describe any

consumer research. And no doubt just a large flat cake, served as is or frosted.
quick look in anyone’s pantry will most And although pan sizes may vary, you’ll
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likely turn up that rectangular pan. be able to fill up to a 15 ⁄4- by 10 ⁄2-inch
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It was our brownie passion that pan with any of these recipes. Go any
placed that pan in so many cupboards, larger and you’ll need a recipe and a
as well as the clever marketing efforts of half. If in doubt, check the side panel of
housewares folks who made it afford- white cake mix boxes for information on
able and totable to gatherings with a how much batter fits into wedding and
snap-on cover. Its presence in every kit - larger pan sizes. But re member that the

chen led to its presence at every bake larger the pan, the shorter the baking