Chocolate Sheath Cake

If you’ve spent any time at a church supper or family reunion in Texas, you know this cake. It goes by a few names, but the idea is always the same: a thin, fudgy chocolate sheet cake with warm icing poured on before it even has a chance to cool.

The batter starts with a boiled mixture of margarine, water, cocoa, and shortening that gets poured straight into the dry ingredients. Buttermilk and a full tablespoon of vanilla round it out. Twenty minutes in a hot oven and you’ve got a thin, dense slab of pure chocolate.

The icing is the real star. Margarine, cocoa, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, chopped nuts, and miniature marshmallows all stirred together and spread over the hot cake. The marshmallows melt into gooey pockets, the nuts add crunch, and the whole thing fuses into one sticky, irresistible layer.

Kitchen Tips

• Spread the icing on while the cake is still hot so it melts into the surface and bonds as it cools
• The marshmallows should be stirred into the icing, not melted completely; you want pockets of gooey sweetness
• This cake feeds a big crowd and travels well, making it ideal for potlucks and bake sales
• Cut into small squares because the icing makes each piece incredibly rich