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Texas Sheet Cake is a soft homemade chocolate cake made in a large baking sheet topped with warm fudge like pecan frosting.
This sweet frosted chocolate cake tastes best with an ice cold glass of milk! Make it for a decadent after-dinner dessert or bring it to a potluck. Everyone will love it!
Why this recipe works:
Texas Sheet Cake is basically a combination of a light and fluffy chocolate cake and my super popular Microwave Fudge. That’s right. That frosting on top is unlike any Italian buttercream or cream cheese frosting or brown butter frosting you’ve ever had.
I had never made a sheet cake before because I didn’t have a 10×15 baking dish. I finally got myself one, so you’d better believe this ain’t the last sheet cake recipe you’ll be seeing from me.
- Sheet cakes are very portable. As opposed to a tall layered cake, sheet cakes like this one are composed of a single layer of cake. No need to take it out of the pan. Just serve right from the dish. And if you have a baking pan that comes with a lid like mine does, it’s super easy to take to a potluck!
- They are sort of fool proof… if you have the right recipe. With all things, there is good and bad information out there. This Texas Sheet Cake recipe is tried and true. Plus, because this cake is big and flat, it cooks evenly all the way through. You’re less likely to pull the cake out of the oven and have it sink in the middle.
- They’re easy to frost! No crumb layer to deal with. No fancy decorations. Just make the frosting and spread it on top. Easy!
Needed ingredients:
- For the cake: unsalted butter, water, cocoa powder, sour cream, large eggs, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, salt
- For the frosting: whole milk, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, pure vanilla extract, and chopped pecans
Cooking tips:
The secret to the best Texas Sheet Cake lies in how you frost it.
You see, with just about every cake I’ve ever made, like Hummingbird Cake or Carrot Cake, you have to let the cake fully cool before applying the frosting.
Not with this mouthwatering chocolate cake.
Because the frosting is so fudgelike, you must apply it to the cake when both the frosting and the cake are hot, otherwise you won’t be able to get it to spread.
In all reality, as long as you time your cooking process accordingly, it’s the easiest method possible! No waiting for the darn cake to cool!
Related recipes:
Love homemade cake recipes? You’ll definitely want to try these:
- Pound Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Angel Food Cake Recipe
- Best Hummingbird Cake
- The Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lemon Cupcakes from scratch
- Incredibly Moist Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
This cake tastes great on it’s own, but it you can always serve it with some homemade homemade vanilla bean ice cream or strawberry ice cream on the side!
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Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 6 tablespoons whole milk
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10×15 inch pan. Alternatively, line a 10×15 pan with parchment paper.
- Melt the 1 cup unsalted butter on low in a saucepan, add the 1 cup water and 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 large eggs.
- Combine the 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 cups granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat in the sour cream and egg mixture. Once the cocoa powder mixture is cool enough to touch, beat it into the four mixture on low speed. Scrape sides and beat just until fully mixed.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- About half way through the cooking process, make the frosting.
- To make the frosting, combine 6 tablespoons whole milk, additional 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and additional 1/2 cup unsalted butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the 4 cups confectioners sugar and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, then fold in the 1 cup pecans, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally posted May 2018 and was updated on May 2019.
Looks delicious!
How do the ingredient amounts change if I want to make an actual sheet cake, in a half sheet pan?
If you can figure out what the difference in volume is, you can scale the number of servings proportionally in the recipe card and it will adjust the ingredient amounts.
I’ve made this quite a few times & everyone loves it, they always say it reminds them of their grandmothers, & seriously, when’s the last time you went anywhere & this was served? Thanks so much, Jen
This recipe reminded me of the chocolate cake my favorite grandmother used to make. Thank you so much for this. It was a hit and so delicious.
My first exposure to Texas Sheet Cake was from Southern Living in the early 1980’s. I also never made it because of the lack of a 10×15 pan! I bought a covered sheet pan and ended up increasing the recipe by 1.5. Theirs has buttermilk instead of sour cream–I also use buttermilk in place of the whole milk in the icing as well. Both are LUCIOUS!!
This is a recipe for a true chocolate lover like me! I think I’d eat all frosting before spreading over the cake, haha. Pinning!
That looks so good, I usually avoid making cakes because of the faff, this looks perfectly achievable and really simple. Definitely making this!
That chocolatey goodness looks divine! I love the idea of this cake – I know my friends would love it too! We are big cake fans 🙂
This is chocolaty, delicious, moist and yum. Best dessert for friends and family.
Talk about a chocolate lover’s dream!! My family LOVED this- it was so moist and so perfectly chocolately. Thank you!