You will swoon over this super-easy, light, and moist Texas Sheet Cake recipe! Simple to make with basic pantry staple ingredients, this is a crowd-pleasing chocolate cake that’s perfect for all sorts of special occasions.
Table of Contents
Why Is It Called A Texas Sheet Cake?
If you know anything about Southern cooking and Southern baking, you know how much Buttermilk is loved in Southern dishes. Texans are also known for loving pecans.
Historians have said that Texans took a favorite German Chocolate Cake and put a Southern Texas spin on it, and made this amazing Chocolate Sheet Cake with a crunch that we know and love.
A sheet cake is just a regular cake that is made in a larger, shallow rectangular pan. The pan is known as a jelly roll pan or a sheet cake pan.
You’ll Love This Easy Cake
Who doesn’t love a nice fudgy, decadent chocolate cake with a homemade milk chocolate buttercream icing?! You can’t go wrong with this sheet cake. With hints of very subtle coffee flavoring throughout, every bite is a piece of chocolate heaven.
If you haven’t experienced a Texas Sheet Cake yet, you need to try it now. This cake recipe is so simple to make, and it feeds a crowd with ease and has minimal cleanup. This cake recipe is perfect for holidays, family get-togethers, game days, celebrations, and birthdays.
A traditional sheet cake will yield 64 servings!!!! A half-sheet cake feeds about 36 servings. And a quarter sheet cake feeds about 18 servings.
This Sheet Cake recipe gives you 16 servings, which is the size of a traditional quarter sheet cake. This Sour Cream Pound Cake is great for a smaller gathering.
Why Make This Recipe
- Pantry Staple Ingredients – Are all that’s needed to make this delectable cake.
- Can easily feed a crowd – The cake is rectangular, easy to slice, and feeds that crowd.
- Simple recipe – A super simple recipe to whip up.
- Fudgy chocolate taste – This is thanks to the homemade chocolate buttercream frosting.
What’s Needed
It may look like a load of ingredients, but trust me, they are all well worth it.
For The Cake
- Eggs – To bind the batter. It also adds richness and keeps the crumb soft and airy.
- Buttermilk – This moistens the cake and activates the baking soda for a fluffy rise.
- Plain Greek Yogurt – Adds a slight tangy flavor. Out of yogurt? No worries, substitute it for the same amount of sour cream.
- Canola Oil – To give lasting moisture and a tender texture without extra flavor.
- Vanilla Extract – For additional flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour – To provide the structure that holds the sheet cake together.
- Granulated Sugar – To sweeten the sheet cake.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – For that signature deep chocolate flavor we all love.
- Baking Powder – To supply extra lift.
- Baking Soda – To react with the acidic buttermilk, helping the cake rise higher.
- Salt – To balance sweetness and sharpen the chocolate flavor.
- Hot Black Coffee – To bloom the cocoa and intensify the chocolate taste. You can use water instead.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (optional) – To add those lovely pockets of melty chocolate throughout.
For The Frosting
- Salted Butter – To create a rich, fudgy base, while a touch of salt.
- Powdered Sugar – To sweeten and set into a smooth, crackly glaze.
- Melted Milk Chocolate – To give the frosting its glossy, candy-bar richness.
- Vanilla Extract – To smooth and round out the frosting’s sweetness.
- Heavy Whipping Cream (optional) – To thin the frosting to a pourable, silky glaze.
How To Make A Texas Sheet Cake
Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 177 degrees C.
- Grab your parchment paper, line your pan, and spray with butter or cooking spray.
- Mix the eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, Greek yogurt, and vanilla together until well combined in a large bowl.
- Next, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix it all together until all is combined and you no longer have flour clumps.
- Stir in hot coffee. This should help the batter become pourable. Add in your chocolate chips and stir.
- Pour your cake batter into your cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Once done baking, remove your cake from the oven and let it cool completely before adding your frosting.
Buttercream Frosting Instructions:
- In a mixing bowl, add your butter and powdered sugar and beat until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add your vanilla and melted milk chocolate, and mix it all together until there is no more white streaking.
- If using the heavy cream, add it now and whip the frosting for another 2-4 minutes or until it’s fluffy.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, you can frost and decorate it.
Bintu’s Tips And Variations
There are so many reasons to love a nice big moist slice of Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake, and after you’ve tried it with this recipe, you can try some of these other variations:
- Your cake is done baking when the center doesn’t jiggle anymore and the edges start to set.
- You can use a toothpick in the center of the cake to check for doneness. If you pull it out and it’s “clean,” then your cake is baked. If it has cake batter or bits of cake on it, give it a bit longer in the oven.
- When making the frosting, you will need to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to help incorporate all the ingredients together.
- Use room temperature butter if you can, as this helps it combine easily.
- Add extra flavorings: Try cinnamon or some coffee extract.
- Add crunch: You’ll often find that some Texas Sheet Cake recipes include pecans, so try some chopped pecans
- Even more chocolate: Try some chunks of dark or milk chocolate in the mix or tossed on top.
Storage
- Store – In an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
- Freeze – You can freeze your Chocolate Sheet Cake after you’ve wrapped it in plastic and then aluminum foil for about a month. You could freeze it up to 3 months if necessary, but 1 month is optimal.
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Get The Easy Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
Easy Texas Sheet Pan Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup 180ml buttermilk
- ¼ cup 60ml plain greek yogurt
- ½ cup 120ml canola oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups 188g all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups 320g granulated sugar
- 1 cup 100g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup 180ml hot black coffee
- ½ cup 80g semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
For Frosting:
- 1 cup 226g salted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups 180g powdered sugar
- 8 ounces 228g milk chocolate melted and cool to touch
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream optional
Instructions
For The Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/ 177 degrees C.
- Grab your parchment paper, line your pan and spray with butter or cooking spray.
- Mix the eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, greek yogurt and vanilla together until well combined, in a large bowl.
- Next add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix it all together until all combined and you no longer have flour clumps.
- Stir in hot coffee. This should help the batter become pourable. Add in your chocolate chips and stir.
- Pour your cake batter into your cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Once done baking, remove your cake from oven and let cool completely before adding your frosting.
Buttercream Frosting Instructions:
- In a mixing bowl, add your butter and powdered sugar and beat until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add your vanilla and melted milk chocolate and mix it all together until there is no more white streaking.
- If using the heavy cream, add it now and whip the frosting for another 2-4 minutes or until it’s fluffy.
- Once cake has cooled completely you can frost your cake and decorate it.
Notes
- Your cake is done baking when the center doesn’t jiggle anymore and the edges start to set.
- You can use a toothpick in the center of the cake to check for doneness. If you pull it out and it’s “clean,” then your cake is baked. If it has cake batter or bits of cake on it, give it a bit longer in the oven.
- When making the frosting, you will need to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to help incorporate all the ingredients together.
- Use room temperature butter if you can, as this helps it combine easily.
- Add extra flavorings: Try cinnamon or some coffee extract.
- Add crunch: You’ll often find that some Texas Sheet Cake recipes include pecans, so try some chopped pecans
- Even more chocolate: Try some chunks of dark or milk chocolate in the mix or tossed on top.
- Storage – In an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
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