The Contessa's Birthday Sheet Cake

In the Walt Disney film, Alice in Wonderland, (1951) there is a scene where Alice is sitting on the riverbank and a funny little rabbit rushes through saying...

"I'm late, I'm late for a very important date
No Time to say "Hello", "Goodbye"
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. . ."

That has been the story of my life the last few weeks! I am late. Time slipped by so quickly that I didn't even think about the Barefoot Blogger recipe that was to be posted on September 10th! When I got home that evening, I was determined to get it made and posted. Great plans. While I got it made, it didn't get posted that evening.

Debby at A Feast of the Eyes told me to read the reviews before I did anything. Good advice, thank you, Debby!

It was late in the evening and I had to get moving or I would have been baking at midnight! The Barefoot Blogger recipe was Birthday Sheet Cake from Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook. It was selected by Susy at Everyday Gourmet. If you haven't visited her blog you may wish to stop by to see what she is cooking.

One of the reviews commented on the pan depth....nope, my pan was too shallow. Great, a sheet cake without a pan. Somebody else used a 9 X 13. Too much batter for that...my only remaining choice was my lasagna pan! How about a cake without a straight side?

The recipe can be found here. I adjusted the soda to 3/4 teaspoon as was recommended. I also increased the vanilla to 2 teaspoons and omitted the lemon. I was happy with the results.


I sprinkled some Chocolate Covered CaCao Nibs on top. I decided that an adult sprinkle was called for....I didn't have any M & Ms in the house.

I took the cake to work the next day. This was too much cake to leave at home for three people! One of the guys stopped by to rave about the cake. He even asked for the recipe. So, there are those who like this type of cake.

The reviews seemed to be polarized. You either liked it or you hated it! I followed the directions explicitly. As with many things, expectations cloud one's opinion of the result. I would have expected a "light and airy" sheet cake. That has been my experience. The batter was light and airy...a good sign. The cake was more dense than most but it wasn't dry. In a nutshell, it was an okay cake but nothing spectacular.

Ummm....cake!