Texas Sheet Cake
A tried and true Texas Sheet Cake with the right amount of chocolate, fluffiness, and sweet chocolate frosting.
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TEXAS SHEET CAKE RECIPE
This cake has been a work in progress. Multiple rounds of testing. Whole cakes in the trash. You get the drift.
In reality, a classic Texas sheet cake has most of the same general components with slight difference in the quantities of sugar, flour, and cocoa.
I’ve made all the cakes. One with not enough chocolate flavor, one with way too much, one that was fluffy, and one that was dense. One that used buttermilk and one that used sour cream. In the end, this version was supreme.
INGREDIENTS:
- SALTED BUTTER – I like to use salted butter in this recipe. If you’re using unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt per 1/2 cup of unsalted butter.
- SUGAR
- ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
- COCOA
- MILK
- EGGS
- VANILLA
- SOUR CREAM – I’ve tested both sour cream and buttermilk and didn’t notice a difference. Either can be used but sour cream is an ingredient I have on hand whereas buttermilk I rarely have.
- BAKING SODA – This reacts with the sour cream and gives it the fluffy texture. Do not replace with baking powder.
- SALT
- NUTS – Are optional. I’ve found that most people prefer it without.
OTHER CAKE RECIPES:
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Eclair Cake
- Hershey’s Chocolate Cake
- Molten Lava Cake
Texas Sheet Cake
A tried and true Texas Sheet Cake with the right amount of chocolate, fluffiness, and sweet chocolate frosting.
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FROSTING:
- ½ cup salted butter
- ⅓ cup milk
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉ and line a half sheet pan (11×17'') with parchment paper or grease it.
- In a small saucepan add 1 cup salted butter, 1 cup waterand ⅓ cup cocoa powderand bring to a boil. This blooms the cocoa making the flavor pop. While mixture comes to a boil prep the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 2 cups sugar, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt. When cocoa mixture comes to a boil, quickly add it to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Add the 2 large eggs, ½ cup sour cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix well.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the top is set. When cake has baked halfway, start the frosting.
- FOR THE FROSTING: In a small saucepan, add the ½ cup salted butter, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, and ⅓ cup milk to the same small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and keep warm. Right when cake has been removed from the oven, remove the cocoa mixture from the heat and pour into a large mixing bowl with 1 teaspoon vanilla extractand 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar. Mix with an electric mixer to ensure there are no lumps.
- Quickly pour warm frosting over warm cake and use a spatula to gently spread frosting evenly over the cake being careful not to tear the top of the cake. Do this quickly as the frosting will set up almost immediately.
- Let cake cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and serve with vanilla ice cream. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, chill in the fridge up to five days, or freeze up to three months.
This is the best cake I have ever made! No notes!
One of the best cakes I’ve ever ate, my wife and my sister said it was the best cake I ever made, I was a little worried but it turned out great, thanks so much for this recipe, by the way it was gone in two days!
That is awesome!