Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake

Party, pitch-in, family dinners, or feeding a crowd? Nothing gets the job done like a Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake. A super easy-made-from-scratch cake with delicious homemade chocolate icing.

You know a recipe is good when it comes from a small-town church cookbook, and this one is straight out of one. All recipes for this well-known cake are very similar and always delicious.

Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake

This is one of those cakes that we (or at least I) tend to forget about. If I’m asked to bring a dessert to a get-together I tend to gravitate towards cookies or I simply grab a cake mix and make cupcakes. But when I do make this it always gets rave reviews so I’m going to intentionally add this to my go-to recipes.

I honestly had to Google why this is called “Texas” Sheet Cake! My research concluded 3 possible reasons: it’s the size of Texas, the recipe first appeared in a Texas newspaper, and it is the official funeral cake (much like funeral potatoes here in the midwest) of Texas. I don’t know that it really matters where the name came from, but all these words about it make me seem more like an expert on sheet cakes, so here we are!

Gather Your Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 2½ Tablespoons cocoa
• 2 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (your choice)

Icing Ingredients

• 5 Tablespoons buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa

How To Make Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake

One of my favorite things about this cake and frosting is that the cake can be iced warm from the oven. Having to wait for a cake to cool is torture for me!

Sheet Cake Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350° and spray your baking sheet with non-stick baking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, and baking soda – stir to combine – set aside.
• In a small bowl combine eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla with a whisk and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan add the 2 sticks of butter, 1 cup of water, and 2½ Tablespoons of cocoa, on medium heat bring the mixture to a boil and boil for one minute. Stir to combine and make sure if doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Stir the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until well combined and smooth.
• Next stir the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla mixture into the chocolate batter – stir to combine thoroughly. If using nuts add them now.
• Pour the batter into your greased baking pan.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your pan, it is done when a toothpick in the center comes out clean

Chocolate Frosting Instructions

• Add buttermilk, butter, and cocoa to a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a slow boil, stirring to combine and not burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl measure 3¾ cups of powdered sugar and pour in the chocolate mixture. Using a hand electric mixer or a danish whisk combine until completely incorporated and there are no lumps.
• Pour the hot icing over the hot cake and use a spatula to spread it evenly over the cake, sprinkle the chopped nuts on top if using nuts.
• Allow the frosting to set for 10-15 minutes before eating.

Tips, Tricks, Questions, and Comments

What if I don’t have buttermilk?

I don’t always have buttermilk in my fridge but I do like to keep some dry buttermilk in my pantry for occasions such as the need for cake! However, sour cream is a great substitute in this recipe that I have used myself. There are several ways to make buttermilk using ingredients that you probably already have in your refrigerator and pantry. A quick Google search for “buttermilk” substitutes will have you baking cake in no time!

Do I have to use nuts?

I’m always reminded of the Almond Joy vs. Mounds candy bar commercial:

“sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t”

No, you don’t have to use nuts, they are completely optional. I used walnuts in this one photographed because that is what my son requested but I personally love pecans in mine! Peanuts or even almonds would work and be delicious. I’m sure there are more nuts that would work but that’s the extent of my midwestern nut knowledge! Now Hickory nuts would be fantastic but they are hard to shell!

What size pan and what if I don’t own one that size?

The biggest thing to keep in mind when choosing a pan is for it to have deep sides! Most recipes for sheet cake use a jelly roll pan.

Sheet Pans, Cookie Sheets, and Jelly Roll Pans

OH MY!

I am going to give a quick rundown of basic pan sizes. Don’t get caught up in pan size so much you don’t make the cake – just keep in mind it needs to hold the batter and have high enough sides. Baking time might vary a few minutes if a smaller pan so that it finishes cooking in the center since it will be thicker.

Full-Sheet Pan: measures 26-by-18 inches with sides about one inch high. Typically too large for everyday home use for baking as they don’t fit in typical home ovens.

Half-Sheet Pan: measure 18-by-13 inches, half the size of a full-sheet pan (isn’t that exactly what the name says) , also with sides about one inch high.

Quarter-Sheet Pan: Any guesses, we are on a roll….measures 13-by-9 inches, with sides about 1 inch.

Jelly Roll Pan: measures in-between a half-sheet and quarter-sheet pan, about 15.5-by-10.5 inches.

Cookie Sheet: A cookie sheet has one raised side, which is often slanted outward, and three flat edges. This allows air circulation around the cookies for even and quicker cooking, some are also insulated on the bottom to help prevent browning!

NO, it is not necessary to own all of these, I don’t own all of these. I have no problem interchanging pans for whatever I need. When it comes to recipes such as this that suggest a specific size pan and you opt to use what you have available just watch closely baking times.

Looking for a “Texas” size sheet cake but not chocolate? My Peanut Butter Sheet Cake serves a crowd and is a hit!