Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

5 from 4 votes

A southern classic, Texas sheet cake is a decadent chocolate dessert with rich icing that can easily feed a crowd.

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Frost Time10

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 626kcal

Lightly spray an 18×13-inch baking sheet with cooking spray and set it aside. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, sugar, and salt.
In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt your unsalted butter. Add your cocoa powder and whisk together.
Add boiling water and whisk it into the mixture.
In a separate small bowl, combine your buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla then whisk together. Stir buttermilk mixture into chocolate mixture and whisk together. Mix with dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and salt).
Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and poke with forks so that the yummy frosting soaks down into the cake just a little bit.
While your cake is baking, start your frosting by melting your remaining 14 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add your cocoa and whisk together. Turn off the heat. Add your milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar (sift it in while whisking instead of just dumping all of it in at once). Stir until no lumps remain.
Pour your frosting over your cake and let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Using a different-sized sheet pan will result in changes to the thickness of the cake and may need the cooking time adjusted.
A fork or a wooden barbecue skewer is the perfect width for the holes in the cake.
When you’re pouring the cream into the holes, tap the pan on the counter a few times to get rid of any air bubbles and make sure the frosting fills the holes completely.