Best Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe Video

The Chocolate Sheet Cake

A chocolate sheet cake is one of the simplest and most satisfying cakes you can make. It’s soft, moist, dark, and decadent. Yet it’s also quick to prepare and pop in the oven… Then even easier to cut and serve! A good sheet cake recipe is meant to be a no-fuss dessert. It should be left in the pan so it’s easy to transport to parties. It should be large enough to serve to a crowd. And most of all, it should be ultra-tender, with a creamy frosting (or glaze) shmeared over the top.

Original Texas Sheet Cake

One of the most iconic sheet cake recipes in the United States is, of course, the Texas Sheet Cake. The original Texas Sheet Cake is thought to have come into being when Texan settlers attempted to make a quick simplified version of German Chocolate Cake. German Chocolate Cake, incidentally, was invented by someone in the US named Samuel German. It did not originate in Germany. However, it was a very popular cake in the United States in the 1800s. With a little Texas ingenuity, these settlers used the ingredients and cookware available to them to make a thin chocolate buttermilk cake with a devilish chocolate pecan glaze. Hence, the Original Texas Sheet Cake was born!

What Is Texas Sheet Cake?

Nowadays, there are many forms of Texas Sheet Cake, from white Texas sheet cake, to fruit-flavored sheet cake recipes. Yet as mentioned above, the first and most popular version, is a nod to the German Chocolate Cake flavors of chocolate, pecan, and buttermilk. A classic Texas Sheet Cake consists of a large thin chocolate cake, covered in a thin layer of fudgy pecan glaze. The glaze sets and becomes somewhat crusty on top. Yet just under the dry top layer, is a soft gooey fudge filling. It should look like a pan of brownies, yet with a delicate cake texture. Let’s be clear… A Texas Sheet Cake is not a pan of brownies. It is its own unique thing.

Best Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

So what makes our Sheet Cake Recipe the best? This sheet cake recipe checks off all the boxes, to make it a quintessential Texas Sheet Cake. However, it’s above and beyond the standard version. In order to make this the best chocolate sheet cake we’ve ever made or tasted, we focused on these key elements…

Coffee – Adding a cup of coffee, or instant coffee granules, to cake batter gives every chocolate cake a better robust chocolate flavor. In essence, the coffee makes the chocolate shine!Dark Chocolate – You can use regular cocoa powder in the recipe. Yet to get the best possible flavor, buy extra dark chocolate cocoa powder. Toasted Pecans – Toasting pecans brings their nutty taste to the forefront, so they taste even nuttier than ever.Texture – The recipe proportions have been tested (and tested) to ensure a perfect delicate moist cake texture.

Texas Sheet Cake Recipe Ingredients

All-purpose flour – Stirred, scooped and leveled. P.S. We’ve actually made this cake with Gluten-Free Baking Flour as well, and it turns out fabulous! Sugar – For sweetness, of course!Baking soda – For its lifting properties.Salt – Just a little, to enhance the flavors.Coffee – To intensify the chocolate taste.Butter – For richness in the cake, and as the base of the glaze.Dark cocoa powder – Dutch Process is a good option. Buttermilk – Buy the “whole milk” or full-fat buttermilk. Learn how to make buttermilk here! Eggs – For binding and lift. Vanilla extract – To add depth. Chopped pecans – Fresh or frozen.Powdered sugar – To sweeten and thicken the glaze!

How To Make Chocolate Sheet Cake

More Easy Chocolate Cake Recipes

Quintessential Chocolate CakeChocolate Banana Coconut CakeMini Chocolate Blackout CakesChocolate Caramel Ice Cream CakeBrownie Cake with Mint Chip Frosting