German Chocolate Sheet Cake with Rocky Road Frosting

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 13- by 9-inch pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan aside.

Break the chocolate in half. Turn on a food processor and drop the chocolate through the feed tube, one piece at a time. Process until finely grated.

Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, eggs, vanilla and grated chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 35 to 38 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the Rocky Road Frosting.

While the frosting is still warm, spread it over the cake in the pan. Let the cake rest another 20 minutes before slicing.

Store this cake, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Serves 16

Rocky Road Frosting

1 cup sugar

Place the sugar, butter and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil, 3 to 4 minutes. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate chips, and stir until they are melted.

Let the pan rest off the heat to cool slightly but not completely, 3 to 4 minutes. Fold in the peanuts and marshmallows until they are well combined and the heat from the frosting begins to melt the marshmallows.

Turn the frosting out onto a cooled sheet cake, then spread evenly with a spatula until the frosting covers the entire cake. Makes 1 1/2 cups

Per serving: 429 calories; 24 g fat (8 g saturated fat; 50 percent calories from fat); 53 g carbohydrates; 56 mg cholesterol; 297 mg sodium; 6 g protein; 1 g fiber.