Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

This recipe came from a real cookbook.  One with pages and everything.  America’s Best Lost Recipes.

My sister worked at Half Price Books a couple years ago and got her hands on this neat cookbook from the Cook’s Country editors.  It contains recipes that have been around for a while that have been shared by home cooks.  Stories accompany each recipe telling who they came from, and how and where they originated.  The goal of this cookbook is to bring back recipes that are worth remembering.

This simple chocolate sheet cake is called “Scotch Cake” in the cookbook.  The note about this recipe says:

“The origin of the name of this simple sheet cake, with its unique pecan and coconut topping, was a mystery to Melinda and her mother, whose recipe card for it included a note that said: “I don’t understand the name of this cake.  I just call it my “boil it” cake”.”

I brought this cake to a potluck dinner, and it received a few compliments.  It’s a great potluck dessert because you can make it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge, it’s simple to prepare, you can take it in the pan and it cuts really nicely.  After being refrigerated the cake becomes almost fudgy and the coconut pecan icing gets that nice sugary crunch.  You know what I’m talking about.

Chocolate Snack Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

From America’s Best Lost Recipes

Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
  • 1 stick butter
  • 6 tablespoons whole milk
  • 4 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
For the Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.
  2. Whisk flour and sugar in a large bowl.
  3. Heat butter, water and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil.  Pour over the four mixture and stir to combine.
  4. Stir in the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined.
  5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the Icing
  1. Heat the butter, milk and cocoa in the same saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts.
  2. Take it off the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla, coconut and pecans.
  3. Spread over the warm cake and let cool completely.
  4. Serve or refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.