Chocolate Sheet Cake In Other Flavours

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Sheet Cake is easy to make and also slightly unusual in that the chocolate icing is poured over the cake whilst it is warm. The icing is partially absorbed by the warm sponge, giving the cake an extra rich, slightly fudgy quality which works very well in chocolate form.

Whilst it is possible to flavour the cake differently, we are not sure that the cake will have quite the same impact in a non-chocolate form. However you could make the sponge base in a plain form by substituting the cocoa powder with the same quantity of cornflour (cornstarch) and flavour it with vanilla plus grated lemon zest, or add some instant espresso powder (we would guess at using around 2 teaspoons). For the icing you need to omit the cocoa powder and use lemon juice instead of milk plus some more finely grated zest (omit the vanilla if making a citrus version) or for a coffee version use the icing without cocoa and add instant espresso powder (add 1/2 teaspoon and very carefully taste, adding more if required). We would mention that as we have not tested the cake in this form we regret that we cannot guarantee the results.