My mom made lots of cakes as I was growing up. She would often make it the night before and eat it for breakfast (don’t roll your eyes; if Pop-Tarts can be a breakfast food, so can cake!). I don’t make cake for breakfast here at the inn, but I do often make her favorite chocolate cake for our afternoon treats. In our house, when my mom said she was making “cake” with no qualifiers, we knew it was time for Texas Sheet Cake.
This cake comes together quickly and bakes even faster, but you’ll need to immediately start working on the frosting. Don’t let the cake cool before adding frosting. You’ll also notice that the frosting ingredients are fluid; it depends on the size of your sheet pan but always go for more than you think. I’ve made dozens of these cakes and never had more frosting than I needed.
Cake Ingredients:
- 1 Cup (2 cubes) Butter
- 3/4 Cup Cocoa
- 1 Cup Brewed Coffee (Water will do just fine if you don’t have coffee)
- 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Cups Flour
- 2 Cups Sugar
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1/2 Cup (1 Cube) Butter
- 1/2 Cup Cocoa
- 1/4 to 1/2 Cup Milk
- 2 to 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a large sheet pan.
Mix flour and sugar in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa and coffee and stir to combine. Remove from heat and add sour cream, then eggs, then baking soda. Add to flour and sugar and mix well. Pour into prepared sheet pan and place in oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. While the cake is baking, make the frosting.
To prepare frosting, melt butter (I use the same saucepan as earlier to minimize clean up). Remove from heat and add cocoa. Add a couple tablespoons of milk and a cup or two of powdered sugar. Mix well. Keep adding milk and sugar until you have about two cups of frosting. The frosting should be fairly thick and form peaks when stirring. Don’t add too much milk. Once you have enough frosting, whisk a few times to remove any clumps of sugar.
As soon as the cake is out of the oven, pour frosting over entire cake. It should liberally cover the cake. Cool before serving (I will often let the cake sit on the counter for 20 minutes and then put it in the freezer for half an hour or so; it makes cutting it much cleaner). Best if served with a bold red wine or, what the heck, even for breakfast.
