Texas chocolate sheet cake
A thin, tender chocolate cake under a warm fudgy frosting that sets like a glaze, baked on one sheet pan and cut into 16 squares.
- 70 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 16
- About $0.58 a serving
- 430 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. Whatever’s left keeps for tomorrow.
Ingredients
For 16 servings.
- 3 sticks butter, divided
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup milk
- 3½ cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
Each serving has about 430 calories, 4 g protein, 64 g carbs and 18 g fat, and costs about $0.58 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 350°F and a , about 18 by 13 inches.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Grease. Greasing means rubbing a thin layer of butter or oil over the inside of a pan so food doesn’t stick. Get into the corners, where batter likes to cling.
How you’ll know: The pan looks evenly shiny all over, with no dry patches and nothing pooling in the bottom.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Dolly’s tip: A 15 by 10 inch pan works too. The cake is thicker, so give it 5 minutes more.the flour, then it with the sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
Spoon and level. Spoon and level is how to measure flour: spoon it lightly into the measuring cup, then sweep the extra off the top with the back of a knife. Scooping straight from the bag packs in too much flour and makes bakes dry and heavy.
How you’ll know: The flour sits flat and even with the rim, and you never pressed it down or tapped the cup.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Put 2 sticks of the butter, the water and ¼ cup of the cocoa in a medium and stir over medium heat until the butter and it comes .
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Medium heat
Pour the hot chocolate mixture over the flour and until smooth.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
in the buttermilk, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla until the batter is smooth and pourable.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: It’s thin, like pancake batter. That’s right.Food safety: Don’t eat raw dough or batter, not even a lick of the spoon. Raw flour can carry E. coli and raw eggs can carry salmonella until they’re cooked. The one exception is dough with no eggs, made with flour heated to 165°F.
Pour the batter onto the pan, tip it to reach the corners, and bake 18 to 22 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed and a comes out clean.
Toothpick test. The toothpick test tells you whether a cake or brownie is baked through: poke a toothpick into the middle and pull it out. Wet batter on it means it needs more time.
How you’ll know: For cakes it comes out clean or with a crumb or two; for fudgy brownies, a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. A thin knife works too.
Timer: 18 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
About 5 minutes before the cake is done, the last stick of butter with the rest of the cocoa and the milk in the over medium heat, stirring.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Medium heat
Take the pan off the heat and in the powdered sugar and the rest of the vanilla until smooth and glossy. Stir in the pecans if you like.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Pour the warm frosting over the hot cake right away and spread it gently to the edges.
Dolly’s tip: Frosting a hot cake is the whole trick. It sinks in a little and sets into a fudgy layer.Let it cool for at least 20 minutes, until the frosting firms up, then cut into 16 squares.
Cool on a rack. Cooling on a rack means setting a hot pan or fresh cookies on a wire grid, so air moves underneath and the bottom doesn’t steam and turn soggy. No rack? The cool grates of your stovetop work the same way.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan feels barely warm when you touch it, and bars cut cleanly instead of crumbling.
Timer: 20 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop picks a dessert for treat night, puts what you need on the week’s grocery list, and walks you through each step.
