For the past few, oh I dunno…. decades the only real question for family gatherings is: who is going to make the Texas Sheet Cake? It’s goes without saying that this unassuming, pecan studded cake will be sliced up at the end of every family celebration. As sure as the sun will rise, ya know? So… who is going to make it? We take this Texas sheet cake recipe very seriously.
The steady Texas Sheet Cake bakers in our clan are my dad, mom, and aunt Judy.ย Is one cake better than another? I’ll never tell but they all work from the same, chocolate-stained recipe card from our late Aunt Mary.ย We’ve learned, after a few well intentioned deviations, not to mess with Aunt Mary’s recipe. Don’t go thinking you can add peppermint extract to the cake, walnuts to the frosting, or god forbid a… fruit. You don’t mess with a good thing and if you do… I mean we’ll still eat it but we’ll shake out heads about it after our plates are clean.
It’s a crime that it’s taken me so long to share this cake with you. It’s classic Americana. It’s classic Wilson family shenanigans.
Let’s talk about a few things.
What is Texas Sheet Cake?
Texas sheet cake is a thin chocolate cake baked in a jelly roll pan.ย The cake batter is thin, making for a light and tender baked cake.ย What really sets a Texas Sheet Cake apart from other cakes is the stovetop cooked chocolate frosting made with melted butter, milk, chocolate, powdered sugar and, most importantly – pecans.ย The warm frosting is poured over warm cake creating a fudgy, undeniably special chocolate cake.
Texas Sheet Cake is known by many other names. Southern Living touts it as a funeral cake, which made me do a double take and made me extra thankful that we don’t wait for a death in the family to enjoy this cake. Some people know it as a Chocolate Sheath Cake or with a touch of cinnamon as a Mexican Chocolate Cake. Some attribute the cake to Lady Bird Johnson. Some to the popularity of a German Chocolate Cake recipe printed in a Dallas newspaper in the 1950’s. Texas Sheet Cake is one of those recipes that, because of its ease and deliciousness (thank you pecans and chocolate), just got around through recipe cards and church cookbooks and imprinted itself into so many of our family recipe arsenals.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Texas Sheet Cake recipe:
It’s simple really:
โข butter for the cake and frosting.
โข cocoa for the cake and frosting.
โข baking soda and salt
โข buttermilk (though sour cream also works wonderfully) and eggs
โข milk, any fat will do
โข and chopped pecans
To start, whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.ย Set aside, we have a bit of stovetop work to get to.
In a small saucepan, melt butter and whisk in cocoa and hot water.
I honestly love a stovetop cake.ย See also: Neapolitan One Pot Chocolate Sheet Cake.
Add the warmed cocoa/butter mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
Add the buttermilk and beaten eggs and hand whisk the thin batter smooth.
Pour the cake batter into a greased jelly roll pan and carefully transfer to the oven (truly the hardest part of the recipe).
Can you make this Texas Sheet Cake recipe in a 9×13-inch pan?
Yes you sure can! The cake will be slightly thicker but equally delicious. Keep an eye on the cake as it bakes. If baking in a 9×13-inch pan you may need to bake for an additional 5-8 minutes.
Bake until the cake is gently puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry or with just a few moist crumbs. If the toothpick still has sticky batter, the cake needs a few minutes more.
While the cake bakes… guess what? More chocolate.
We’ll whisk together a warm chocolate and pecan glaze on the stovetop.ย Butter, cocoa, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla, and chopped pecans. It’s beyond. It’ll take all you’ve got to not eat the frosting with a spoon before the cake comes out of the oven.
When the baked cake emerges from the oven it’s topped with warm chocolate pecan frosting and as it all cools, the most magical thing happens.
The cake and frosting become one. There’s this perfectlyย tender cake topped with a chocolate pecan shell. In the center, where the cake and frosting meet is a fudgy equator that, as far as I can tell, is a thing of dreams (or, if you’re lucky, a thing of every family gathering).
You should need no further convincing.
In our family, this was the sort of cake that lived awkwardly in the pan, tilted and teetering in the refrigerator, for a day and a half. Each member of the family stealing moments at the open refrigerator to peel back the plastic wrap and sneak slivers with a butterknife.
I secretly hope this cake feels as nostalgic for you as it does me. If it doesn’t, maybe all this chocolate talk is enough to inspire a new tradition.ย Either way, I sincerely hope this cake finds it’s way into your oven.
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Wilson Family Texas Sheet Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8 if not more 1x
Description
An American classic. A thin layer of chocolate cake topped with warm chocolate pecan frosting.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour cream
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 3/4 cup (100 grams) finely chopped pecans
- 2/3 cups (151 grams) butter
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (312 grams) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 18×13 sheet cake pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together. Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour warm chocolate over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
- In a large liquid measuring cup,ย whisk together the buttermilk, beaten eggs, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate/ flour mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan, spread evenly and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs not wet batter.
- While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans well. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar and stir until smooth. Add the pecans.
- Pour the warm frosting over the warm cake. Allow to cool and set for at least 30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy! To store, wrap the cake in plastic wrap or foil and keep in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
61 Responses
Just took this to a church potluck and it was gone in minutes!!! I barely got a chance to grab a piece for myself! Perfectly chocolate and delicious.
Now this is a really terrific cake. So tasty and easy to make. Perfect for a gathering as makes a lot and hopefully there will be leftovers!! Will definitely be making this again and again. What’s nice about this cake is that it is not too sweet and being a thin cake you don’t mind going back for seconds or thirds or…………
there is a key ingredent missing . cinnamon 1 tsp goes in with the coco in the skillet. its one of the things that makes you say, ‘why does this taste so good’ . so please add to your receipt.
Terrific recipe, prepared exactly as written with great results! I will be investigating your other recipes!! So happy to have discovered your site!! Thank you!
I tried this in a 13x 18 x 1 jelly roll pan, is that the size you recommend, or a 13 x 18x 2 jelly roll pan? Mine was a little too thin
It was delicious, just too thin.
Hi Joy, I came across The Pioneer Woman’s magazine and there was an article about old recipes and you had one for a Texas sheet cake from an Aunt Mary so I went to your website and you do have one which says it is Aunt Mary’s but don’t mess with it but the ingredients aren’t the same. . Is there a huge difference from using sour cream to using buttermilk?
Thank you!
Hi Chris,
I’m glad you found me! There’s not a huge difference using buttermilk or sour cream. I know in my family, we always have buttermilk (because that’s what we use in pie crusts), but don’t always have sour cream in the refrigerator. I prefer to use sour cream as it adds more fat (because most buttermilk is low fat milk), and creates a slightly more tender crumb. Buttermilk also makes for a fantastic cake so there’s really no wrong answer here. Hope this helps! Happy Baking!
MY sweet mother made this cake and it was always great. Sometimes she would add a layer of white mini marshmallows to the cake when the cake out of the oven and before she put the chocolate icing on it… That made it EXTRA sweet – but us kids loved that part of it.. Oh sweet memories!
I’ve made this for 56 years now and still love it. And it’s so easy to bake and take to church suppers, funerals, etc…This is a Winner and it always has been..
Yum, thanks. Came out exactly as described and the texture of the icing reminded me of my grandmotherโs chocolate drop cookies. The cake was moist and light with a buttery brownie-like flavor. The icing was quite sweet but I liked it. The only variation I might try is replacing the pecans with finely chopped almonds and moist coconut flakes. The cake was quite soft and the icing was very moist (didnโt harden). Iโm not sure if thatโs typical but it made packing up leftovers a bit challenging (oh well, more for me). I did use 1.5 TBS raw Cocao because I ran out of Dutch Cocoa. Perhaps substituting some dark bakers chocolate would fix that?
This is the cake my husband wants every year for his birthday. I had never made it before we started dating and had no clue what made a โbestโ Texas sheet cake.
Every year I try a new recipe. This was the recipe I went for this year and it got the stamp of approval from both of us. A really nice tender cake with a really tasty icing. I did put a little less powdered sugar in than what it called for- so my only suggestion would be if you donโt like a super sweet icing to maybe drop it down by a half cup. But sooo yummy!
I made this cake today. DID NOT turn out. I don’t know if it was due to the S.E. Texas humidity or what. I do keep my house at about 78 degrees. But the butter, cocoa, and boiling water mixture that was to cook for 30 minutes completely separated. I did this recipe exactly to the directions. The icing did the exact same thing. Separated. The icing didn’t even give me enough for the whole cake and I had a 18 x 13 pan. The cake batter itself was very thick. It took forever for me to get the chocolate mixture incorporated into the flour mixture. When the cake was finally frosted I had to go over with paper towels to soak up some of the butter. I make coca cola cakes all of the time and never have had one come out anyways but perfect! I don’t know what could have happened here!!
It was delicious though but just didn’t look great! Any ideas of what may have gone wrong!
You don’t boil anything for 30 minutes. You boil the butter and cocoa for about 30 seconds for both the cake and the frosting. That may have been your problem. I’ve made this and it’s wonderful.
Oh, Kerry. Thank you very much! That’s exactly what I did. I thought it said “minutes” and not seconds. Thank you so much for figuring this out .I read through this recipe so many times and never picked up on that. I better slow down reading! Again, Thanks so much. I appreciate you!!
Do you sift the flour
You can but it’s not entirely necessary!
Perfect! Weโre a household of two so I halved the recipe and baked in a quarter sheet pan. Itโs been years since Iโve made this cake and have no idea what recipe I used to use, but it doesn’t matter because this one will go in the permanent file! Thank you!!!
Thank you for the recipe!! It was a hit! Turned out perfect! I’ve never made one so it was a lot of fun ?
Due to a slight miscalculation, I thought my jelly roll pan was the one that was smaller than my half-sheet pan (I may have too many pans), and my batter went all the way to the topโฆ and then I still added the frosting, thinking maybe it would settle in. Oops, it was a bit of a drippy mess, but the taste was incredible! Adding this one to the โkeep forever and teach it to my kidsโ file. Thank you SO much!!
My grandmother–whose last name was also Wilson!–made amazing Texas Cake, but I lost the recipe years ago. This one tastes exactly the same! I was so happy to find it. Thank you!
I’m so happy this recipe made its way back to you!
My icing turned out very oily can you tell me what I have done wrong? Thanks so much.
Thank you for this recipe. I made it yesterday for the first time for my husband’s b-day to share with friends during a picnic in a park. It was a great hit, both adults and kids really enjoyed it. Really easy to make and turns out great. I cut it into 24 squares and it was perfect size. Great cake to share easily. I will definitely be making it again.
Hi my cake out perfect but the sugar taste gritty. I may mention that we had a power falure for about 2 hours. I then just carried on with the recipe. Except for the sugar gritty taste it is delicious. Just how long must the sauce etc boil?
If i cant eat nuts, is it still worth making? Do i need to change any thing?
just leave the nuts out!
Iโve made it several times for my kids birthday and use sprinkles and have left it plain as they arenโt nut fans. Itโs a fantastic cake. Addictingly good and would taste great with or without the nuts!
This recipe is a family staple for this native Texan! My Nana called it 20 Min Cake because of the short baking time but I relate HARD to the stained recipe card! My card calls for ‘Oleo’ and I remember my Nana getting such a kick out of me not knowing that Oleo was a brand of margarine. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Love this. I grew up with โMexican Chocolate Cakeโ attributed to Lady Bird Johnson. Itโs the most stained/sticky recipe in our collection – the one we have calls for margarine in lieu of butter for some reason (i believe the recipe was printed in the late 70s so this may have been a nod to โhealthโ?). Anyway I was born and raised in maryland and had no idea until I was in my 30s that this was in fact a Texas tradition. (The cake not the margarine, of course).
Thanks for the mention, Joy! This is my favorite cake, as you know. ?~Aunt Judy
missed this, have never made it or even tasted it before, so thank you for the introduction and recipe, I like that it’s a thin layer and especially the pecan frosting for the flavor and texture!