Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword chocolate-cake-recipes, texas-sheet-cake, texas-sheet-cake-recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Cooling time 4

Servings pieces

Calories 449kcal

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with baking spray. Set aside.
Toast Pecans: On a separate sheet pan spread pecans in a single layer. Toast for 6-8 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside.
Cake Batter: In a medium-size mixing bowl, use a whisk to sift together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, stir together, boiling water and cocoa until dissolved. Add melted butter mix well.
Pour the cocoa mixture over the flour mixture. To the bowl add buttermilk, vanilla and eggs. Mix with a whisk until fully combined.
Pour cake batter evenly into pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes back clean.
Fudge Frosting: 5 minutes before the end of baking, begin preparing the frosting.
In a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat melt together butter, cocoa powder and cream. Bring to a simmer, whisking until smooth. Do not boil. Remove from the heat. Add vanilla.
Use an electric mixer to beat in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Beat until smooth. Mix in toasted pecans. Spread evenly on hot cake. You can add additional cream 1 Tbsp at a time, if needed to thin. Don't thin the icing too much, it will melt on the hot cake making it easy to spread.
Place on a cooling rack to cool in the pan. Store at room temperature or chilled.

Toasted Nuts: It's well worth the small amount of effort to toast the pecans for the frosting. You can use more or less pecans, or sprinkle them on top of the frosting, if you prefer. You could also use walnuts.

Frost the Cake While it's Hot: It's important to frost this cake while the cake is hot. It melts a bit into the cake which makes it even more irresistible.

Adjust the Frosting Thickness: When making the frosting, you can add small amounts of additional cream if needed, to thin. The frosting does melt ever so slightly when you put it on the cake making it easy to spread so, go easy with any additional cream.

Alternate Pan: Texas sheet cake is a thin cake by it's very nature when baked in a jelly roll pan. It's almost equal parts cake and frosting. It's best made in a jelly roll pan, but it can be made in a 13x9-inch deep cake pan, too. When making that change, the cake will be thicker and will take longer to bake. Add 5-10 minutes checking the center for doneness. (The fudgy frosting will also be thicker).

Serving Options: I enjoy most cakes cold. That said, this is one rare exception. When this cake is served warm or at room temperature, the frosting melts in your mouth. It's perfectly fine to serve it either way.