This moist and fudgy Texas Sheet Cake is the chocolate cake lover’s dream! Simple to make with primary pantry elements and smothered in home made chocolate icing, this traditional cake recipe was made for sharing.
At this time we’re making a traditional Southern dessert: the Texas chocolate sheet cake. Apparently, it’s true that the whole lot is larger in Texas, together with their desserts. This traditional chocolate cake recipe is tender and stuffed with fudgy taste and ideal for feeding a crowd.
In fact, you don’t want an important day as an excuse to bake a scrumptious chocolate cake. My grandmother’s reply to a Texas sheet cake was her Sunday Chocolate Sheet Cake, which she baked religiously on Sundays. Moist, wealthy, and unbelievably chocolatey, these desserts have loads in frequent. You’ll love how straightforward this Texas sheet cake is to make. Smothered in clean chocolate icing stuffed with crunchy pecans, it’s a chocolate overload, plain and easy!
Why Is It Known as a Sheet Cake?
A Texas sheet cake is historically baked in a jelly roll pan, or in one other rectangular baking sheet. Its massive, slab-like form makes it excellent for sharing at events, potlucks, tailgates, and so forth. (Or, , feeding a small household any day when there’s a hankering for one thing chocolate-filled and scrumptious.)
What You’ll Want
One of many many issues I like a couple of traditional cake recipe is how easy the elements are. You don’t want something fancy to make a tasty Texas sheet cake, as you’ll see within the overview beneath. Discuss with the recipe card additional down within the put up for the total ingredient quantities:
Butter: I all the time keep on with unsalted butter in order that my desserts don’t come out too salty.
Cocoa Powder: Use good-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder. You should use Dutch course of cocoa powder for a darker, fudgier cake.
Flour and Sugar: Baking fundamentals. All-purpose flour and granulated sugar work completely. You’ll additionally want baking soda and a pinch of salt to assist the cake rise and steadiness the sweetness.
Buttermilk: The key to an ultra-rich and moist chocolate sheet cake. For those who don’t have buttermilk, don’t fear. See beneath for a simple buttermilk substitute.
Eggs and Vanilla: Whisk up the eggs beforehand, and ensure to make use of actual vanilla extract.
Chocolate Icing: I embrace an easy-peasy home made chocolate icing with this recipe, and it by no means fails. It’s created from primary elements together with cocoa powder, milk, and powdered sugar, and comes collectively rapidly. See the recipe card for particulars!
Pecans: Finely chopped. I add these straight into the chocolate icing, however that’s non-compulsory.
What If I Don’t Have Buttermilk?
For those who’re brief the buttermilk wanted on this cake recipe, by no means concern. There’s an excellent easy substitute which you can make at house! All you want is a few common milk and white vinegar. I’m going over it intimately in my tutorial for Homemade Buttermilk, however right here’s a fast how-to:
Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to a measuring cup.
Add sufficient milk to make 1 cup.
Stir, and depart the combination to sit down for five minutes. Give it one other stir, and that’s it! Your very personal buttermilk substitute, prepared to make use of.
Tips on how to Make a Texas Sheet Cake
What are you ready for? There’s an EPIC chocolate sheet cake to be baked. The joy is actual. Right here’s how you can make the final word Texas sheet cake:
Soften the Butter: First, in a saucepan on the stovetop, whisk collectively butter with cocoa powder and a little bit of water. Preserve stirring now and again because the combination involves a boil. Let it scale back for about 30 seconds after which set it apart, off the warmth.
Mix: Subsequent, add the dry elements to a giant ol’ bowl. Stream within the scorching butter combination and provides it a stir to mix. Combine within the buttermilk, whisked eggs, and vanilla.
Bake: Pour the cake batter right into a greased 18×13” baking pan. Bake your sheet cake at 350ºF for about 20 minutes or so, till set within the middle. You may as well bake this cake in an 15×10″ inch pan too for a barely thicker cake!
Put together the Icing: As your cake nears the tip of its baking time, whip up the short chocolate icing. Once more, soften butter in a saucepan, and whisk within the cocoa, milk, and vanilla. Take the pan off the warmth earlier than stirring within the powdered sugar, and pecans in the event you’re utilizing them.
Frost the Cake: When your sheet cake is scorching from the oven, pour on the icing immediately and use an offset spatula to smear it throughout.
Suggestions for Success
Listed here are my suggestions for the right Texas sheet cake:
Use high-quality elements. Since there’s not a lot concerned in making a Texas sheet cake, elements like good-quality cocoa powder are key.
Keep away from overmixing the cake batter. In case your desserts usually end up dense and hard as an alternative of moist and fluffy, chances are high good that you simply’re overmixing the batter. Ensure to solely combine the elements till they’re simply mixed, and take a look at your greatest to not overwork the batter.
Don’t overbake. The best strategy to test in case your cake is prepared is to stay a toothpick into the middle of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clear, that cake is finished.
Simple Adorning Concepts and Variations
There are such a lot of methods to show this decadent chocolate sheet cake into your personal dreamy creation! Listed here are just a few enjoyable and straightforward methods to embellish a chocolate cake:
Add Sweet: After it’s frosted, prime your sheet cake with colourful M&Ms, chopped caramels, or chocolate chips.
Add Sprinkles: Coloured sprinkles are a simple strategy to jazz up this primary chocolate sheet cake for a wide range of events. Change up the sprinkles for a birthday cake, for Halloween, or for the 4th of July.
S’mores: Stir mini marshmallows and crushed Graham crackers into the chocolate icing.
Retailer this sheet cake hermetic on the counter for as much as 3 days. It’s a great factor {that a} cake this measurement may be saved at room temperature. I don’t even need to attempt becoming it in my fridge!
Can I Freeze Chocolate Sheet Cake?
Sure! A Texas sheet cake freezes effectively, making it an ideal make-ahead occasion dessert. As soon as the frosted sheet cake is absolutely cooled to room temperature, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, plus a layer of foil, and retailer it frozen for as much as 1 month. Thaw the cake within the fridge earlier than slicing and serving.
Moist and fudgy Texas Sheet Cake is the chocolate cake lover’s dream! This can be a traditional cake recipe smothered in chocolate icing that’s excellent for sharing.
Cake:
1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 massive eggs, whisked
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing:
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
Elective – 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat an 18×13 baking sheet with nonstick spray (*see be aware). Put aside.
Add the butter, cocoa powder, and water to a small saucepan over medium warmth. Deliver the combination to a boil, stirring often. Boil for 30 seconds and take away from the warmth.
In a big bowl whisk collectively the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour the recent butter combination into the flour combination and stir to mix.
Add within the buttermilk, whisked eggs, and vanilla and stir till evenly integrated and clean.
Pour the batter into the ready pan and bake for 20 – 22 minutes till the middle is ready and a toothpick inserted comes out clear.
Icing: When the cake has 5 minutes left, begin making the icing. In a medium saucepan, soften the butter. Whisk within the cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract till clean. Take away from the warmth and whisk within the powdered sugar and pecans.
When the cake comes out of the oven, pour the icing on instantly and unfold to coat.
Notes
*you may also bake this in an 15×10 sheet pan (jelly roll pan). The bake occasions received’t fluctuate drastically, nevertheless it may take just a little longer. This offers you a barely thicker cake.
Retailer hermetic at room temperature for as much as 3 days.
Key phrases: chocolate sheet cake, straightforward chocolate cake recipe, straightforward desserts for a crowd
