by Kira Rasmussen
Baker and Proud Texas Woman
A friend of mine asked me the secret to making a great Texas sheet cake.
“Ask a Texas woman to make it,” I said. "Just kidding."
(I was not kidding.)
I grew up in El Paso where my mom (also a Texas girl) taught us how to bake. Every Sunday afternoon we made cookies, brownies, pastries, or cakes, including one of my favorites, Texas sheet cake. When I took a job at Target Bakery, it was a huge step down from my mom’s kitchen; Target didn’t make anything fresh, and it was honestly pretty boring. I was glad to move to The Chocolate in Orem where I got to make way more fun recipes, including their awesome pretzel cake. Now I’m at Culinary Crafts, which is about as far from Target Bakery as you can get!
But of all the great pastries and desserts I’ve tried, nothing beats the old classic Texas sheet cake.
The recipe below is my mom’s tried and true cake. However, I have found that in Utah the consistency and fluff are a bit different. I find you need to reduce the baking soda by ⅛ teaspoon. This helps the rise.
But it’s no surprise that sheet cakes made in Texas taste better. Everything from Texas is a little better! (Kidding, not kidding.) 😊
Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda (reduce by ⅛ tsp at high altitude)
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 6 Tbsp cocoa
- 1 cup water
Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 6 Tbsp buttermilk
- 6 Tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 lb powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- In a mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Whisk until smooth and then set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, combine and sift flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- Bring butter, vegetable shortening, cocoa, and water to boil in saucepan.
- Pour hot mixture over flour mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add buttermilk mixture and stir to thoroughly incorporate.
- Pour batter into buttered and floured half-sheet-cake pan (about 15 in. x 10 in.) and bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until edges of cake pull away from the pan and the cake springs back when you touch it.
Frosting
- About 10 minutes before the cake is done baking, start the frosting. Bring buttermilk, butter, and cocoa to a boil.
- Quickly remove from heat (it will not be pretty) and add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Once you’ve removed the cake from over, spread frosting over cake. (It’s important that the cake still be hot to help the frosting spread evenly.) Allow to cool, then cut into squares and serve. (The frosting tends to stick to a metal knife, so using a plastic knife can help you make cleaner cuts.)