American · Dessert · Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
A thin, fudgy chocolate cake baked in a jelly roll pan and finished with warm poured-on fudge frosting and pecans. It feeds a crowd, travels like a dream, and never lasts long at a potluck.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Texas Sheet Cake, in 5 ideas
- The warm-on-warm technique is the whole trick: hot frosting poured over the hot cake soaks in slightly and sets perfectly smooth.
- Sour cream is the moisture secret; do not substitute milk or the cake loses its signature fudginess.
- A jelly roll pan is the right size; a 9x13 pan makes a much thicker cake that bakes unevenly.
- Toast the pecans in a dry skillet first for deeper flavor and extra crunch.
- This cake stays moist for days covered at room temperature, which is why it is a potluck legend.
What you need
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, divided
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 6 tablespoons whole milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans
How to make it
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a saucepan, bring the butter, water, and cocoa powder to a boil, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Whisk in the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the batter into the pan.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, make the frosting: bring the butter, cocoa, and milk to a boil, remove from heat, and whisk in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and pecans.
- Pour the warm frosting over the warm cake and spread it to the edges. Cool completely before cutting.
Cocoa powder from the store brand is identical in quality to the premium tins at nearly half the price; chocolate snobs will never know the difference.