The Best Texas Sheet Cake

square slice of texas sheet cake on plate with fork

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The Best Texas Sheet Cake

This easy Texas Sheet Cake recipe is a rich, fudgy, moist crumb made with buttermilk and coated in warm chocolate frosting, then sprinkled with toasted pecans. A a chocolate cake lovers dream!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Cool10

Total Time35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate sheet cake, Texas Sheet Cake, texas sheet cake recipe

Servings:

Ingredients

For The Cake

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup whole buttermilk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For The Chocolate Frosting (makes 2 cups)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup whole milk
4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping

1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter and flour a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, water, oil, buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until blended and smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, whisking until combined and smooth. Pour batter into prepare pan.
Bake until edges of cake pull away from the pan and the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center, about 18-20 minutes.
Let cool in pan for 8-10 minutes.
During the last few minutes of the cake cooling, make the frosting (don’t do this in advance, because the frosting will harden.) In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and milk. Add in the powdered sugar until combined. Whisk in the cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon, until fully incorporated. Immediately pour over the warm cake and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle with the pecans.
Let cool completely.
Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Do not make the frosting in advance. The frosting hardens fast! So don’t make that in advance. I suggest whipping it up right before you’re going to use it, then pour and spread with even strokes, followed by immediately sprinkling the pecans on top.

Let the cake cool a bit before frosting. While it is important to pour the frosting over a warm cake, I prefer to let the cake cool for 8-10 minutes beforehand, otherwise the frosting completely absorbs into the cake and doesn’t leave that awesome thick, fudgy layer that is such a key component.

The size of your jelly roll pan does matter. A 13x9 pan will render a thicker cake, 18x12 (which is a half baking sheet) a super thin cake, and a 15x10 is perfect IMHO! Not too thick, not too thin. Baking times, if using something other than the 15x10 in this recipe, will vary.

Nutrition