Ree’s Chocolate Sheet Cake, Gluten-Free

Preparing to bake:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Pull out a rimmed baking sheet (also called a jelly roll pan or half-sheet tray). Set a pan of water on to boil.

Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the gluten-free flours, the xanthan and guar gums, the sugar, and the salt. Whisk them together.

Mix the wet ingredients, combine the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir well.

Make the chocolate concoction. Melt 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of the butter, then add 1/2 the cocoa powder. Whisk them together to combine. Pour 1 cup of the boiling water into the chocolate mixture and let it sit for a moment. Turn off the heat. Stir.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the flours. Stir for a moment to cool the chocolate, then pour in the egg mixture. Go to town stirring with a rubber spatula until it is smooth.

Pour the cake batter into the rimmed baking sheet. Slide it in the oven and bake until the cake is firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: icing. Melt the remaining butter in a large saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the remaining cocoa powder. Stir. Add milk and vanilla. Stir. Add that pound of powdered sugar. Stir. Add the chopped nuts. Stir.

Remove the cake from the oven. Immediately, pour the icing over the cake evenly, covering the top. Let it sit until it is cool enough to eat, about 20 minutes.

Dig in.

I happen to know this cake freezes well. After I ate the first bite of it, I knew I was in danger. So we ate our dessert portions, then I sliced up the whole thing and stuck them in ziploc bags and flung them in the back of the freezer. Somehow, some of those frozen pieces have ended up in our mouths as well. (Tip: the frozen ones are great with ice cream.)