Texas Sheet Cake — The Best Chocolate Cake for a Crowd

Some Things Texas Does Right

If you have ever needed to feed a crowd something chocolate and completely unforgettable, Texas Sheet Cake is your answer. I made two of these last night — one to go to the school and the other will get split between two friends who have a hard week ahead of them. That is exactly what this cake is for. It is thin, fudgy, deeply chocolatey, and covered in warm poured frosting that sets into the most incredible fudgy icing you have ever put in your mouth. Some things Texas does right, and this cake is absolutely one of them.

This recipe comes straight from TastesBetterFromScratch.com and I will tell you right now — it is the best Texas Sheet Cake I have ever made. I have made it several times and it has never once let me down. I made one small swap: I use baking powder instead of baking soda. That is my only tweak. Everything else is exactly as written and I would not change a single thing. Full credit to Lauren Allen for this one — I am just here to make sure you know about it!

(Stephanie’s video is embedded in the recipe card and her story continues after the recipe.)

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Texas Sheet Cake

The best Texas Sheet Cake for a crowd — a thin, tender chocolate cake baked in a sheet pan and covered in warm poured chocolate frosting that sets into a fudgy, irresistible icing. Recipe credit: TastesBetterFromScratch.com

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients

  

For the Cake:

• – 1 cup water
• – 1 cup butter
• – 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• – 2 cups all-purpose flour
• – 2 cups granulated sugar
• – 1 teaspoon baking powder Stephanie’s swap — original recipe uses baking soda
• – 1/2 teaspoon salt
• – 1/2 cup sour cream
• – 2 large eggs
• – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

• – 1/2 cup butter
• – 3 tablespoons milk
• – 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• – 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 18×13 inch sheet pan.
2. Add water, butter, and cocoa powder to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a small bowl, mix together sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract.
5. Add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine.
6. Pour the hot butter and cocoa mixture into the batter and mix until smooth and no lumps remain. The batter will be very thin — that is exactly right.
7. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula into an even layer.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until set. Start checking at 15 minutes.
9. About 5 minutes before the cake is done, prepare the frosting: add butter, milk, and cocoa powder to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar until smooth. A hand mixer works great here to beat out any lumps.
10. Pour the warm frosting over the hot cake immediately. Spread evenly with a spatula.
11. Allow frosting to set for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Video

Notes

Stephanie uses baking powder instead of baking soda — her personal preference and it works beautifully. The original recipe calls for baking soda if you prefer to follow it as written.

This recipe is from Lauren Allen at TastesBetterFromScratch.com — one of Stephanie’s favorite finds. Full credit to Lauren for this incredible cake!

Store any leftover cake covered in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

The magic of Texas Sheet Cake is pouring the warm frosting over the hot cake. Don’t wait — do it immediately when the cake comes out of the oven. The frosting soaks in just slightly at the edges and sets into the most incredible fudgy layer on top. If you are doubling the recipe like Stephanie did in the video, it is just as easy to make two — the batter comes together fast and you barely add any extra time.

If you have been around here for any length of time, you know that when someone I love is going through something hard, my first instinct is to bring food. And I never want them to worry about returning my dish. That is exactly why I keep a big stack of disposable aluminum foil pans (Shop on Amazon) in my kitchen at all times — but for this cake, I used my extra large baking sheets (Shop on Amazon) because a true Texas Sheet Cake needs a true sheet pan.

The frosting is the thing. You make it on the stovetop while the cake is still baking — butter, milk, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar (Shop on Amazon) — and the moment that cake comes out of the oven, you pour it right on top. Hot frosting, hot cake. That is the whole secret. It sets into this thin, fudgy, glossy layer that is absolutely unlike any other frosting I have ever made. No spreading required beyond a quick pass with a spatula. It finds its own level and it is perfect every single time.

I got this recipe from Lauren Allen at TastesBetterFromScratch.com and I want to make sure she gets full credit because this recipe is genuinely perfect. I made one small change — I use baking powder instead of baking soda, which is just a personal preference of mine — but everything else is exactly as Lauren wrote it and I would not change a single thing. Go check out her site if you want to see the original.

The only problem with Texas Sheet Cake is that it disappears faster than you expect. I made two full sheet cakes and they will both be gone before the week is over. That is how you know.

Find the baking sheets, measuring cups, and all the tools I use in my kitchen on my Shop My Kitchen page!

More Crowd Desserts and Crowd Favorites

If Texas Sheet Cake is your kind of recipe, here are a few more that feed a crowd and leave everyone asking for the recipe:

• Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars — quick, easy, and gone in minutes at any gathering
• Eclair Squares — Kathy Petty’s no-bake dessert that has been requested at every potluck since Stephanie first made it
• Fudgy Pie — the ugly dessert that tastes like a million dollars

Want crowd-friendly recipes like this one in your inbox every Saturday? Join Stephanie’s weekly newsletter — it’s free, it’s fun, and there’s always room at the table!

Texas Sheet Cake — About Stephanie’s Recipes

Stephanie’s recipes are a little bit of everything — treasured old family recipes passed down through generations, dishes she has developed and made her own over the years, great finds from church ladies (because if you want a good recipe, ask a church lady!), and inspiration from food bloggers and corners of the internet. Sometimes she flexes her culinary muscles and creates something spectacular. But most of the time? Quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. Because at the end of the day, Stephanie cooks for her family and her people — and the best recipe is the one that brings everyone to the table, keeps them there a little longer, and leaves them happy and full.