Texas Sheet Cake
This Texas Sheet Cake is baked in a 12x17 Nordicware lidded pan. If you use a smaller pan, the cake will be slightly thicker and should take a a few minutes longer to bake.
Servings 32
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (270 grams)
- 1 scant cup granulated sugar (185 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt, scant
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (230 grams)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (200 grams)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened natural (not Dutch) cocoa powder
- 1 cup water
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting:
- 2 ¾ cups confectioners' sugar, measure by weight if possible (390 grams) sifted
- 1 stick unsalted butter (114 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt -- omit if using salted butter
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder (20 grams)
- ⅓ cup full fat sour cream room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom only of a 12x17 inch sheet pan with salted butter or margarine.
- In a large mixing bowl thoroughly mix the flour, granulated sugar, salt and cinnamon (if using).
- Melt butter in a 3 ½ quart saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar, cocoa powder and water and bring to a boil. Pour the boiling cocoa mixture into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture and stir until blended.
- In the saucepan you used for the butter/cocoa mixture, stir together eggs, vanilla and buttermilk. Add the egg mixture and the baking soda to the chocolate mixture and stir by hand until blended.
- Pour the very liquid batter into the pan and bake for 15 minutes. Cake should spring back when touched and have an internal temperature of about 200 degrees. It will be pretty obvious if it’s done.
- While cake bakes, weigh out your confectioners’ sugar and sift it to remove any lumps. Set it aside.
- Clean out the saucepan and melt the 1 stick of butter. Add the salt and cocoa powder and stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Add the vanilla, then add the confectioners' sugar about 1 cup at a time, stirring until smooth. If icing seems to be thickening, you can do this over low heat, but the residual heat from the cocoa/butter mixture should be enough. Pour over cake gradually, tilting pan so that it covers the cake evenly. Let set.