The Best Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
Whether you’re a chocolate lover or simply enjoy an easy-to-make and extremely satisfying dessert, this easy Texas sheet cake is a must! Both the cake batter and frosting are boiled rather than mixed in a mixing bowl. It’s a one pot rather than one bowl recipe! Bottom line, it’s an easy, no mixer dessert that’s ready in under 1 hour. Texas sheet cake is a very soft, moist, chocolate cake with a tender crumb. Because it’s a sheet cake and baked in a jelly roll pan or sheet cake pan, so it’s a flatter cake. And it’s very soft so you’d never want to make it as a layer cake to try to make it thicker or taller. Despite all the rich chocolate flavor in the cake, I appreciate that my easy chocolate Texas sheet cake recipe is not too sweet, which is a good because the chocolate icing is sweeter, like most frostings are. The sweet and decadent boiled chocolate frosting just melts in your mouth! Walnuts add a bit of crunch to this otherwise soft cake. It’s a classic and beloved dessert that has been around for decades and is still a welcome treat at potlucks, picnics, and family gatherings. Because it’s baked in a sheet pan (hence the name Texas sheet cake) or jelly roll pan, it feeds a crowd. So it’s great to serve at birthday parties, graduations, for holiday entertaining, or anytime you need plenty of cake.
Ingredients in Texas Sheet Cake
Every ingredient in this classic Texas sheet cake is common, easy to find, and a fridge or pantry staple. My White Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake is a fast, EASY, no-mixer cake that’s soft, fluffy, tender, and just melts in your mouth! It’s a white chocolate twist on a traditional Texas chocolate sheet cake and it’s a perfect PARTY cake, too!
For the Cake:
Unsalted butter or margarine Water Unsweetened cocoa powder All-purpose flour Granulated sugar Baking soda Salt, optional Large eggs Sour cream Vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
Unsalted butter or margarine Unsweetened cocoa powder Milk Confectioners’ sugar Salt, optional Walnuts Vanilla extract
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions. I took my inspiration from these older recipes and margarine works well in this cake. Normally, I would never suggest baking with margarine, but it’s fine here. Although if you’re not a margarine person, unsalted butter is just fine.
What Kind of Cocoa Powder To Use?
For this vintage cake recipe and the icing, you need to use unsweetened natural cocoa powder. I use Hershey’s because it’s classic and it works. There is no need for Dutch process cocoa powder. Use: natural unsweetened cocoa powder. Do NOT use: sweetened cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, melted chocolate bars, melted chocolate chips.
How to Make Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
The method for making this cake is similar to the way you make these Texas Sheet Cake Brownies and this Coca-Cola Cake. All you need is a pot and a wooden spoon. No electric mixer is required! You can whip this entire cake up in under an hour with no extra bowls to clean and so little prep time!
Making the Cake
Step 1: Add the butter or margarine, cup water, and 4 tablespoons cocoa powder to a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat or medium-high heat. It only needs to boil for about 5 seconds before adding the flour mixture and remaining ingredients. Step 2: Let the chocolate mixture cool for a couple of minutes, then add all the remaining wet and dry ingredients and mix. Step 3: Pour the batter into a 10x15x2-inch well-sprayed (or greased and floured) jelly roll pan and bake.
Making the Frosting
Step 4: After you remove the cake from the oven, prepare the Texas sheet cake frosting by bringing the butter or margarine, cocoa powder, and milk in a saucepan until boiling. Classic Pumpkin Roll Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting Glazed Cherry Pie Bars Step 5: Gradually stir in the powdered sugar, walnuts, and teaspoon vanilla extract. Step 6: Immediately pour and spread the icing over the warm cake. Step 7: Let it cool and set for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving!
Recipe Tips for the Best Texas Sheet Cake
Here are some helpful tips to ensure your Texas Sheet Cake turns out perfectly: Spray the Pan Well – Either go nuts with nonstick cooking spray (what I do). Or grease the baking sheet with butter to prevent sticking, then add a light dusting of flour. It’s not normal to line the cake pan with parchment paper so make sure your jelly roll pan is a good one and then either spray it very well or grease and flour it. Frost While Warm – Normally this goes against all baking rules which is to cool a cake before adding the frosting, so that a warm cake doesn’t melt the frosting. But because this is a boiled frosting, you need to add it while it’s still warm too, so it doesn’t set up in the pot. The warm cake allows the icing to seep in, both flavoring the cake and keeping it extra moist. Sifting – If your confectioners’ sugar is very lumpy, you may considering sifting it before adding it to the pot. Otherwise, make sure to whisk nearly continuously to break up any lumps. This also ensurse a smooth and velvety texture. Walnuts – Don’t add them until the frosting is smooth, silky, and lump-free in the pot. Cool and Set Up – Let the icing on the cake cool and set up for about 15 minutes before cutting and serving. This will give you cleaner slices. You can also wait longer, but if you’re in a rush, 15 minutes or so should be fine.
Recipe Variations to Try
I think the basic recipe is perfect as is, but there is always room for experimentation! Here are some creative ideas you can try to put your own twist on this classic dessert:
Experiment with different extracts to add hints of flavor: Try substituting the vanilla extract with almond, coconut, or mint extract. Swap the Milk: Instead of regular milk, try using chocolate, strawberry, or hazelnut milk to flavor the icing. Change the Nuts: Switch out the walnuts for chopped pecans, almonds, or toasted hazelnuts.
Instant Espresso (My favorite twist): Add a couple of tablespoons of instant espresso powder to the cake batter to give it a subtle coffee flavor and deepen the chocolate taste. I do this with my most popular chocolate cake, my Best Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache recipe, as well as with many other chocolate dessert recipes from brownies to cake because cho Peanut Butter Swirl: Peanut butter and chocolate are the perfect combination! Add a dollop of peanut butter on top of the cake batter before baking and swirl it in gently with a toothpick. Salted Caramel Drizzle: Drizzle some salted caramel sauce over the icing for a tasty balance of sweet and salty.
How to Serve Classic Texas Sheet Cake
You can serve it warm or at room temperature in generous squares or triangles. Normally I serve it as-is because it doesn’t “need” anything else. But if I’m feeling extra decadent, we’ll enjoy it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of Salted Caramel Sauce or Hot Fudge Sauce.
How to Store Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
Extra classic chocolate Texas sheet can will keep airtight at room temp for up to 5 days. Cover your sheet pan or jelly roll pan very tightly with foil or plastic wrap and it should be fine. I don’t store this cake in the refrigerator, as refrigerators tend to dry out any type of cake, muffin, or quick bread so unless there’s good reason to (like a cream cheese frosting for example), I don’t. I’ve never frozen a Texas sheet cake but I imagine you could if you wanted to, and it would keep airtight in the freezer for 3-4 months.
More Easy Chocolate Cake Recipes:
The Best Homemade Chocolate Ganache Cake — This truly is the best homemade chocolate cake EVER. It’s topped with a smooth chocolate ganache frosting, and it requires just 10 minutes of hands on prep! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake — A rich, dense, and decadent chocolate cake that’s filled with an airier chocolate cheesecake and topped with smooth chocolate ganache is a chocoholics DREAM! A celebration cake that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day, Christmas parties, or special anniversaries and birthdays that’s sure to receive RAVE REVIEWS! Chocolate Turtle Cake — This decadent poke cake is topped with whipped topping, salted caramel sauce, mini chocolate chips, and chopped pecans. It’s so easy to make, and a huge hit at parties! Flourless Chocolate Cake – A classy, elegant cake that’s ultra rich, fudgy, and tastes better than what you’d get in a fancy restaurant and it’s so EASY!! Your friends and family will think you slaved over it and be so impressed! Better-Than-Anything Chocolate Cake — This is an amazing cake, worthy of its alter-ego name, one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had, and so easy. Triple Chocolate Cherry Cake — This cake is loaded with juicy cherries and topped with an easy homemade chocolate frosting. I used a few shortcuts in this recipe to save time, but this cake tastes completely homemade! The Best Triple Chocolate Layer Cake — This is the chocolate layer cake to beat all and the best. It’s rich, decadent, and everything you want in a chocolate cake. The Best and Easiest Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes — One bowl, no mixer, so easy! The warm, gooey, fudgy chocolate lava cake center is heavenly! Better than any restaurant versions! Best chocolate cake EVER!!
