Texas Sheet Cake in a 9×13 Pan for Smaller Parties
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Texas Sheet Cake is a classic dessert that comes together in under an hour. It’s fudgy, decadent, and feeds a ton of people. But, in this post, we’re going to downsize our Texas-sized cake to more of a Dallas-sized cake. By that, I mean, we’re going to quarter the classic and bake our Texas sheet cake in a 9×13 pan.
What Qualifies it as “Texas Sheet Cake?”
So, maybe you believe that all Texas sheet cakes are chocolate. And while the original version was, there is now vanilla, peanut butter, strawberry, and any other flavor you can think of. The basic idea is that you make a thin cake batter, spread it in your sheet pan, and bake it quickly.
Then, just before the cake comes out of the oven, you make a warm icing. This is poured over the cake immediately after it comes out of the oven. The icing partially soaks into the cake and the rest settles on top in a glossy, smooth even, coating. This creates the distinct texture of a Texas sheet cake.
Your cake will be really moist! The icing on top is a bit crisp but is gooey underneath the lid. There’s a transition of texture, too, where that icing soaked in, so you’ll have a fudgy fade from icing to cake. The best thing to compare it to is a Cosmic Brownie, except that Texas sheet cake is just 1000% better.
Making Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
It may be that I’ve had enough Little Debbie brownies in my life to associate fudginess with chocolate, but in my mind, this made the most sense. It’s comforting to get exactly what you expect in terms of flavor and texture. That said, I have some notes.
Which Cocoa Powder Do You Need for Texas Sheet Cake?
As for the cocoa powder, I’ve tried this with regular baking cocoa and dutch-process cocoa. Both turned out very well with one key difference: the baking cocoa is a milder chocolate note, like milk chocolate. The dutch-process cocoa is more bitter and intense, like dark chocolate. The colors even come out looking like milk and dark chocolate.
That said, I prefer the end result of using a dutch-process cocoa.
Do You Have to Add Nuts?
No, you do not have to add nuts to your Texas Sheet Cake icing. In fact, I haven’t done so in any of my versions. You can see from the photos I topped mine with cocoa nibs to make it pretty. This is because my husband has a total aversion to nuts in baked goods (see the post on banana bread for that story).
However, if you are really looking to bump the texture of this up a notch, I do have some suggestions.
- The type of nut depends on your preference. I can’t think of a nut that doesn’t pair well with chocolate, so use about a half cup of your favorite nut, chopped up finely.
- Toast the nuts first. Whichever nut you go with, gently toast them in a dry pan until they’re fragrant. Then, give them a good chop to break up the large pieces.
- Add the nuts just to the icing. The traditional way to add nuts to a Texas sheet cake is by mixing them into the icing. I wouldn’t mess with this. Sure, nuts in a cake are fine, but this is one of those times I wouldn’t mess with the recipe.
Do You Refrigerate It or Leave It on the Counter?
Another thing all flavors of Texas sheet cake have in common is that they age well. I don’t mean that they’ll last for weeks, but they do develop in flavor and texture over the next day or two. So, while you can dig into this cake an hour after it’s done, you can also make it the night before an event and it’ll be really good.
And since we’re talking about longevity, you may wonder if you have to refrigerate Texas sheet cake. You don’t have to, but it will last longer if you do. For our family, I tend to leave it on the counter. We have a small fridge, and I know we’ll eat it all within 4 days.
The couple times I’ve thrown it in the fridge, though, I thought it was great! Cold Texas sheet cake is a different experience that you have to be in the mood for. There’s nothing quite like a cold, chocolate snacking cake. I’ll just take bites out of it with a fork throughout the day. Hey, no one said this was healthy!
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Dallas-Sized Texas Sheet Cake
Equipment
- 9×13 pan or quarter sheet pan metal or non-stick
- Small saucepan
- Medium mixing bowl
Ingredients
The Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
The Icing
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and dust your 9×13 pan with cocoa powder to prevent sticking.
- In your saucepan, boil the butter, water, and cocoa powder. Cool completely.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and create a well in the mixture.
- Beat the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream together in the well. Then, gently fold into the flour mix. Then whisk in the cocoa liquid.
- Pour your batter into the 9×13 pan, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- When the cake has about 10 minutes left, melt the butter and milk for the frosting in your saucepan (don't clean it out). Whisk in the cocoa and powdered sugar until no lumps remain.
- Pour the warm icing over your cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Cool completely before serving.
