Move over Barefoot Contessa, Jennifer Garner is at it again with her 'Pretend Cooking Show' and this time she's giving Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, a run for her money. Since December of 2017 the actress has been sharing her favorite family recipes and cooking videos on Facebook for fans and friends to watch, and believe me, it's almost like you are sitting on a stool in her kitchen watching her cook.
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In the past she's shared her love of Ina Garten's honey white bread, (including bread men) huckleberry English muffins, granola bars, and even a kerfuffle of a bagel recipe (In the end they turned out perfect!). Today she's taking out all the stops and is serving up a chocolate sheet cake courtesy of Ree herself. Step-by-step, follow along as the 13 Going on 30 star uses social media to share her favorite recipes. Who needs their own show on Food Network?!
Take a look:
To begin, preheat your oven and melt the butter in a small saucepan. At the same time bring the water to a boil. Jennifer dances around and shows off her nails, sharing that they are a fresh coat and she doing the best she can not to smudge them. We've all been there Jen, there's nothing worse than working hard on painting your nails to having them look like you jammed them into a wall while doing something as simple as stirring the pot. How it happens, the world may never know.
Once the butter is melted, whisk in the cocoa powder and the boiling water, letting it bubble for a minute or two.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and sugar. Jen tip: she only uses 1 1/2 cups of sugar for her recipes to cut down the sweetness. Once blended, pour in the chocolate mixture to cool it down before adding the cold buttermilk mixture of eggs, vanilla and baking soda. Once combined, pour the entire mixture onto a sheet pan or jelly roll pan and bake until the top springs back.
Onto the frosting! As an enthusiastic participate, Jenifer licks the cake batter clean before moving on to her clean work surface. No stand mixer here, just a saucepan, some melted butter and cocoa powder. Remove from the heat and whisk in milk, vanilla and powdered sugar then pour the icing over the room temperature cake. Heavenly.
