This Chocolate Buttermilk Texas Sheet Cake Recipe is the perfect dessert for any occasion. Birthday parties, family gatherings, or even your local church potluck will enjoy this classic southern dessert!
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Chocolate Buttermilk Texas Sheet Cake
I’m not lying when I say: this is truly the best Texas Sheet Cake! Moist crumbs packed with chocolate flavor and topped with the most delightful warm chocolate fudge frosting you’ll ever have. If I could choose my birthday cake (which I can and do lol!) this is it.
The combination of buttermilk, rich chocolate, and fudgy frosting is what makes this delicious dessert one of my favorite cakes to bake! But don’t take my word for it. Give it a try! Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe card.
The Players for this Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- Butter – You’ll need three sticks of butter for the cake batter and the warm chocolate frosting. And don’t worry about making it softened because we’ll be melting the butter.
- Cocoa Powder – I use the 100% cacao unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Coffee – Adding brewed coffee (can be warm or chilled) to our cake enhances the flavor and complements the cocoa powder.
- Water – I add hot water to our melted butter mixture to help break up the lumps of cocoa powder.
- Flour – Plain all-purpose flour is what we’re using for this Texas sheet cake.
- Sugar – Granulated white sugar is perfect for this original recipe.
- Baking Soda – This leavening agent will help our moist sheet cake to rise.
- Salt – Just a dash to bring all of our flavors together.
- Buttermilk – Adding buttermilk will give us a moist chocolate cake. I make my own buttermilk by adding white vinegar.
- Vanilla – I use 100% pure vanilla extract.
- Eggs – Use 2 large room temperature eggs for this traditional texas sheet cake.
- Milk – You’ll need milk (whole, 2%, skim, or half and half works!) to make the warm frosting.
- Powdered Sugar – To make our frosting,you’ll need about 4 cups of powdered sugar.
- Corn Syrup – While you don’t necessarily need to add the corn syrup, this creates a smooth and shiny consistency to our warm fudge frosting.
The Tools:
- Cake Pan – For this buttermilk Texas sheet cake recipe, I use a 15″ x 10″ glass baking dish. This great dessert bakes perfectly ever time I bake it in this dish!
How to Make this Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 15″ x 10″ baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a large sauce pan, melt 2 sticks of butter over medium heat. To your butter, add your cocoa powder, hot water, and coffee and whisk well until there are no lumps. We don’t want to bring this up to a boil or simmer. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
While the chocolate mixture is cooling, now’s the time to make your buttermilk. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Fill up the measuring cup to the top with milk and allow the buttermilk mixture to sour for 5 minutes before using.
When the chocolate mixture is cool, to the same saucepan, add your dry ingredients of flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
To the flour mixture in the saucepan, pour in your 1/2 cup buttermilk and incorporate it well into the wet ingredients. Add in your vanilla extract and room temperature eggs and stir well.
Carefully pour batter into your prepared pan and bake for 28 – 30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes while you make the chocolate fudge frosting.
Make the Warm Fudge Frosting
In a small saucepan, melt butter and cocoa together over low heat, whisking to break up any cocoa lumps. Add in 4 cups of powdered sugar along with 4 tablespoons of milk and whisk until you get a smooth consistency.
If I find that my powdered sugar is too clumpy, I’ll alternate 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of milk and whisk well. Then add an additional cup of sugar with milk and whisk well. Do this until all of your powdered sugar is incorporated.
If your frosting is still too thick, add in an additional tablespoon of milk. Take your saucepan off the heat and whisk in the corn syrup and vanilla extract.
Pour your warm chocolate frosting over the top of the warm cake and allow the cake to cool completely before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Storage Instructions
To store any leftover sheet cake, wrap it in plastic wrap or move it to an airtight container. You can keep it on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Baking in other Size Baking Dishes
For baking a Texas sheet cake, it’s common to use a rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan. These pans typically have a shallow depth and are larger in size compared to regular cake pans. The size often recommended for a Texas sheet cake is around 18″ x 13″.
But because I prefer a slightly thicker cake (but not 13-inch pan thick), I love using a glass 15″ x 10″ baking dish. I think it’s the perfect ratio of cake to frosting. But If you’d like to use this recipe in other pan size options, here’s the recommended bake times. Always test your baked cake with a toothpick inserted into the middle. If it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached, it indicates that the cake is done.
- 13″ x 9″ – Bake for 35-38 minutes.
- Greased Jelly Roll Pan – This would be a half sheet pan (18″ x 13″ x 1″) – 20-25 minutes.
Pin it for Later!
If you end up making this Chocolate Buttermilk Texas Sheet Cake recipe, let me know how it went. I’d love to chat with you!
Looking for other sweet treats? Check out these recipes next!
The Best Chocolate Buttermilk Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Sheet Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 2 cups flour
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, room temperature
Warm Frosting Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 4-5 tbsp milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp corn syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the Sheet Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 15" x 10" baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter over medium heat. To your butter, add your cocoa powder, hot water, and coffee and whisk well. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
- While the chocolate mixture is cooling, now's the time to make your buttermilk. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Fill up the measuring cup to the top with milk and allow the buttermilk mixture to sour for 5 minutes before using.
- When the chocolate mixture is cool, to the same saucepan, add your dry ingredients, buttermilk, vanilla extract and eggs. Mix well.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 28 – 30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes while you make the chocolate fudge frosting.
To make the Warm Fudge Frosting
- In a small saucepan, melt butter and cocoa together over low heat, whisking to break up any cocoa lumps.
- Add in 4 cups of powdered sugar along with 4 tablespoons of milk and whisk until you get a smooth consistency. If your frosting is still too thick, add in an additional tablespoon of milk.
- Take your saucepan off the heat and whisk in the corn syrup and vanilla extract.
- Pour your warm fudge frosting over the top of the warm cake and allow the cake to cool completely before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
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Notes
Ephesians 6:10-11 - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."
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