This cake. It is absolutely, without a doubt, the best chocolate sheet cake ever.
God bless my mother-in-law, who shared the recipe with me when I got engaged to Ladd. I tweaked it slightly over time with sinful results. The icing is poured over the cake while it's still warm, creating a thick, fudgy effect, and the resulting homemade cake is moist beyond imagination, chocolaty and rich like there's no tomorrow, and, 100% of the time, elicits moans and groans from anyone who takes a bite. You can skip the nuts if you want, but they add delicious crunch and texture to this chocolate dessert. The only thing that could make it better? A scoop of ice cream, if you want to be really naughty.
What makes sheet cake different?
Sheet cake is thinner than a traditional layer cake, which means it bakes much more quickly. I make mine in an 18-by-13-inch sheet pan, but a jelly roll pan works fine too. Either way, you end up with a high frosting-to-cake ratio!
Why is chocolate sheet cake sometimes called Texas sheet cake?
Some say that the first recipe for a thin chocolate sheet cake originated in a Texas newspaper sometime in the '50s or '60s… but no one really knows. Don't worry about where it came from, just make one—you won't regret it!
Is salted or unsalted butter better for chocolate sheet cake?
Salted, baby! There's a little additional salt in the cake batter, but there isn't any in the icing, and you need some salt to balance out all the richness and sweetness of the cake and icing. If all you have is unsalted butter, a general rule of thumb is to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt for every stick (1/2 cup) of butter you use to mimic salted butter.
Should you grease the pan for chocolate sheet cake?
Nope! Since there's two whole sticks of butter in the batter, this cake won't stick to the pan. If you're worried, a spritz of nonstick baking spray on the panwon't hurt, but in my experience, you don't need it.
How much batter goes into a sheet cake?
Here's a good rule of thumb with sheet cakes:It's about the same amount of batter that goes into a regular 9-inch layer cake or a 9-by-13-inch cake—it just ends up much thinner because it's in such a big pan.
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- Yields:
- 24 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 20 mins
- Cook Time:
- 20 mins
- Total Time:
- 40 mins
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 c.
all-purpose flour
- 2 c.
sugar
- 1/4 tsp.
kosher salt
- 1 c.
butter
- 4 tbsp.
(heaping) cocoa powder
- 1 c.
boiling water
- 1/2 c.
buttermilk
- 2
eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp.
baking soda
- 1 tsp.
vanilla extract
For the Icing:
- 1/2 c.
plus 6 tablespoons butter
- 4 tbsp.
(heaping) cocoa powder
- 6 tbsp.
milk
- 1 tsp.
vanilla extract
- 1 lb.
(minus 1/2 cup) powdered sugar
- 1/2 c.
finely chopped pecans
Directions
- Step1In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Step2In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add thecocoa, stirring to combine. Add the boiling water andallow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds; turn off the heat.Pour the cocoa mixtureover the flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
- Step3Pour the buttermilk in a measuring cup and add the beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into an 18-by-13-inchsheet cake pan and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.
- Step4While cake is baking, make the icing: In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa, stir to combine, andturn off the heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar, stirring together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over the warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you've just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.
The Cast of Characters. Very basic ingredients—perfect for us Pioneer Women who live out in the country and nowhere near dutch processed cocoa, Madagascar vanilla extract, or creme fraiche. All you need for this wonderful cake is sugar, flour, salt, butter, cocoa, baking soda, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, powdered sugar, milk, and pecans. Are you ready? Let’s go dance with the devil!
First, melt 2 sticks regular (not unsalted) butter in a saucepan. While it’s melting, boil 1 cup of water.
When the butter is melted, add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder…
And mix thoroughly.
With the heat still on, pour in the boiling water…
And allow the mixture to bubble for 30 seconds.
Turn off heat. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar…
And 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Stir together.
Pour the hot butter/chocolate mixture over the top…
And stir together slightly, just to cool the chocolate.
In a measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
PIONEER WOMAN BACK-UP PLAN: Living way out in the country, I often find myself missing key ingredients for many recipes and have had to learn to improvise. I usually don’t have buttermilk in the fridge when I want to make this cake, so here’s what I do: pour just under 1/2 cup regular milk into the measuring cup, then add enough regular vinegar to the milk to bring the quantity up to 1/2 cup. Within seconds, it turns into buttermilk and works perfectly. Try it sometime!
To the buttermilk, add 2 beaten eggs…
1 teaspoon vanilla…
And 1 teaspoon baking soda. Stir together.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the chocolate/flour mixture.
Stir together well.
I use this commercial baking sheet, but any jelly roll pan will do.
Pour the luscious batter into the ungreased pan…
The Best Sheet Cake Deserves the Best (and Cutest) Bakeware
The Pioneer Woman Measuring Spoons
And spread it evenly.
Bake the cake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes. While the cake is baking, it’s time to make the evil, decadent frosting.
Chop 1/2 cup pecans…
Into pretty small pieces. Keep on choppin’—the smaller and crunchier, the better.
In a saucepan (I always wash and use the same one as before), melt 1 3/4 sticks of regular butter (not to be confused with 1 1/2 sticks or 2 sticks, for pete’s sake.)
Once the butter is melted, add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder.
Stir together, and allow to bubble for 30 seconds. Turn off heat.
Then add 6 tablespoons milk…
And 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir together.
Then add 1 lb. powdered sugar. Actually, I like to add about 1/2 cup less than 1 lb., but I was too embarrassed to admit that I wouldn’t be able to tell you what quantity that is. So add a pound, but hold a little back, and please don’t ask me how much that is, because I hate math.
Stir together…
Then add the chopped pecans…
And stir together again.
Now pour the evil, adulterous, wicked frosting over the warm, ridiculous cake.
Try to pour it all over the surface, so you won’t have to do much spreading.
The warmth of the cake should do most of the work for you, causing the stupidly delicious frosting to spread on its own. You’ll have to help it along a little, but the less you have to spread, the better.
Sigh. Before you sink your teeth into this beautiful creation, take a moment. Pause and reflect upon how fortunate we are to be human. To be able to control the various ingredients in our kitchens. To be able to harness the energy necessary to heat an oven. To melt butter. To chop nuts. To eat…to eat…chocolate.
