This is my absolute favorite chocolate recipe. It is a quarter sheet cake, Texas style! A small Texas chocolate sheet cake made in a quarter sheet pan!
This is the chocolate cake that I grew up on. Yes, it is thin and not as visually impressive as a towering stack of chocolate layer cake. However, there are so many merits to this cake!
Before I start, I'll tell you that I'm from Texas, so I definitely have a dog in this fight.
A Texas chocolate sheet cake is a super thin, moist chocolate cake baked in a large baking sheet instead of a round cake pan. Then, when it's fresh from the oven and still hot, a warm, melted frosting is poured on top.
As the cake cools, the frosting hardens into a flaky, almost crisp topping, and it crumbles at the touch of a fork, almost like a piece of fudge! In a word, it is delicious, and it is the only chocolate cake I make.
Yes, I make my vegan chocolate cake when I need a layer cake, but this one feeds a crowd and never disappoints.
This pan is technically a 9x13 inch pan, but it only has 1-inch sides. It's a quarter sheet pan that I usually use to bake dinners for two or roast vegetables for two!
I hope you love this Texas Chocolate Quarter Sheet Cake! This is the exact quarter sheet pan I use and love.
This Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake is perfect for smaller crowds
That is how I started scaling down the Pioneer Woman’s chocolate sheet cake. I certainly didn’t need a giant chocolate cake, but I needed one that served more than two. I halved her recipe and baked it on a quarter-sheet pan, made a few alterations, and it’s perfect! Everyone loves chocolate, and I get about 6 generous servings out of the pan. That’s enough for the 4 of us, plus if anyone wants seconds or an extra slice to take home.
How big is a quarter of a sheet cake?
This quarter sheet cake is the perfect size for celebrating small things, or having a few friends over. Everyone still gets chocolate cake, but you don't have to make a giant 3-layer one. Plus, the cake to frosting ratio on Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake is ideal. My quarter sheet cake pan measures 9x13" with a heavy 1" lip on the sides.
How many pieces of cake are in a ¼ sheet cake?
You can see in the photo that I got 12 small squares of cake, but I would say this quarter sheet cake generously serves 6 people.
Our neighborly visits often go late, and I’m too tired to do dishes when everyone leaves, so I use paper plates. I think it provides a more casual feeling anyway. Last Friday, I used paper plates. Clean-up was a breeze, and they’re perfect for sending home leftovers, too.
So, make it easy on yourself, grab the paper plates and invite your neighbors over!
Texas Chocolate Cake ingredients
- Flour. All-purpose regular, plain flour.
- Sugar. Granulated white sugar.
- Salt.
- Butter. One stick (4 ounces) of unsalted butter. It doesn’t need to be softened, because we will melt it on the stove. We also need an additional 7 tablespoons (almost one whole stick) for making the pourable chocolate icing.
- Cocoa Powder. Two heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder. You don’t need to measure this super precisely, just use a tablespoon to scoop out two scoops of cocoa powder. Repeat when making the frosting.
- Boiling Water. Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake is probably the only recipe you’ve ever seen that calls for boiling water, but trust me on this!
- Buttermilk. Buy store-bought cultured low-fat buttermilk for the best results. You can technically make your own with 1 cup of milk plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar, but the recipe was developed with store-bought buttermilk. We will use some in the cake and the frosting.
- Egg. One large egg, beaten.
- Baking Soda. Just ½ teaspoon of baking soda, because this cake is only going to rise to the surface of the pan you bake it in.
- Vanilla. I always recommend real, high-quality Bourbon vanilla extract.
- Powdered Sugar. This is to make the frosting that we will pour over the cake as it cools.
How to make a Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a quarter-sheet pan with cooking spray. A quarter-sheet pan measures 9x13-inches with a 1-inch lip. Do not use a regular 9x13-inch pan because it is too deep for this batter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once melted, stir in the cocoa powder and boiling water.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk, egg, baking soda and vanilla.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, followed by the boiling water mixture.
- Stir together all cake ingredients very well, and then pour into the prepared pan. Bake cake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, make the frosting. In the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Stir in the cocoa powder, buttermilk and vanilla until well-combined. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar.
- Immediately when the cake comes out of the oven, pour the frosting over. Use an off-set spatula to spread the frosting to the edges of the pan. Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
How to serve this Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake Recipe
I love to serve this Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, especially if the cake is still warm.
Can I serve a sheet cake in the pan?
Yes, you can use a butter knife to slice the cake into pieces and a soft silicone/rubber spatula to remove each slice from the pan to serve.
Texas Quarter Sheet Cake storage
Can you leave a Texas Sheet Cake out overnight?
Yes, cover the sheet cake with plastic wrap and it can be kept out at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate it to store it for 1 week.
Best Texas Sheet Cake Recipe FAQs
It’s called a Texas cake because it’s so big! It’s a large, thin cake that serves a crowd.
Sheet cake is much thinner than regular cake, and much easier to bake! Simply cut sheet cake into squares and serve.
Recipes for this started appearing in the 1950s, and I’m so glad that we still make it today.
You over-baked it, I’m sorry. Try again and watch the timer. Also, is your oven running hot?
More Sheet Pan Cake recipes you'll love
Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake
A small Texas chocolate sheet cake, made in a quarter sheet baking pan.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
- 2 heaping tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup boiling water
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
For the frosting:
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 heaping cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Lightly spray a quarter-sheet pan with cooking spray. A quarter-sheet pan measures 12x10-inches.
- First, make the cake. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter.
- Once melted, stir in the cocoa powder and boiling water.
- In a measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk, egg, baking soda and vanilla.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, following by the boiling water mixture.
- Stir together all cake ingredients very ell, and then pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake cake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, make the frosting. In the same saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.
- Stir in the cocoa powder, buttermilk and vanilla until well-combined.
- Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar.
- Immediately when the cake comes out of the oven, pour the frosting over. Use an off-set spatula to spread the frosting to the edges of the pan.
- Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 106mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 1gSugar: 35gProtein: 2g
Lora says
I'm thinking this is going to be a life saver and dangerous!
Maria says
This is my daughter's favorite cake but it's too much to make for our family of five. Thanks for cutting it back in size. It will be perfect for my upcoming birthday with some homemade vanilla ice cream! Yum! Thanks.
brooke says
This was the perfect size! I read somewhere that you could sub yogurt for buttermilk. I used whole milk yogurt in the cake and frosting and it was REALLY great! Again thank you!
Christina Lane says
I'm so glad you liked it, Brooke! Thanks for letting me know :)
Brenda Black says
cinnamon & coconut are a must; pecans that are chopped are an added bonus as well. Take it from me. I have made many and I am from TX.
Sadie says
NO coconut! I have made many, too and I am also from Texas. Pecans in the icing is fine, and yes, cinnamon in the cake is great, but NO coconut!
Lisa says
This has almost cooled on my counter! I am so glad that I stumbled upon your recipe. Being empty nesters, the standard size is way too much. I mean we COULD eat it all but we shouldn't, right? My mom always baked goodies for the neighborhood everywhere we went. My dad was with the State Department so there were foreign countries too. We are moving soon to a whole new area of the country and I will definitely keep the tradition going!
April Jones says
On Thursday, I baked two "Texas Sheet Cakes" for a church function. I was using the church kitchen, which is pretty fully stocked because a community meal is served there each Saturday. I was dismayed, though, to find that the kitchen had only gluten-free flour substitute and it was completely out of cocoa! I hate gluten-free cakes, and I was not very confident in my ability to substitute semi-sweet baking chocolate, so I was sure that my (Pioneer Woman) recipe was doomed. I had fun anyway, treating the situation as if it were a Cutthroat Kitchen experience. I had to sort of guess as to how to alter the butter and sugar in the recipe to compensate for the chocolate already having fat and sugar. And I tried to figure out what made the hideous texture in gluten free cakes, so I ended up adding extra eggs. Also...when I made the frosting, I found the chef had already locked the refrigerator back up, so I didn't have any plain milk, all I had was the buttermilk I had used in the cake. Altogether, the cake was really not the original recipe at all. It looked great, but I wasn't going to be able to taste it until it was served on Sunday, sooooooo....
I went home from the church and made another one the way it's supposed to be made, and brought that with me Friday to a potluck at a different church. That turned out to be a hit, and the same people were gathering the next day again, so I went home and made the recipe again, this time leaving out the cocoa so that it was a White Texas Sheet Cake. That was also very well received.
Sunday came and I finally got to try the Cutthroat Kitchen version...which somehow turned out to be the best of the three! I wanted to eat more and more and more of it, but alas, we were sharing with large groups, so I just had a tiny piece of all three versions.
I have unexpected plans to have someone over tonight for dessert, and the memory of those four cakes is still very fresh in my mind, as is my longing for more of them. But it's silly to make an entire Texas Sheet cake for two people. So I came to Desserts for Two for some other idea...and lo! and behold! I see that our dear Christine has had the exact same dilemma and solved it!!!! Here's to my fifth Texas Sheet Cake in as many days!
Christina Lane says
Oh gosh! Glad it worked, April! :)
Nancy says
Can you use a 13x9 baking pan?
Christina Lane says
It's tricky...I think so. I haven't personally tried it, but others seem to have used it successfully. I don't know how the extra heat from the height of the pan affects the cake, though.
Cathy says
Hi Christina, I have just made this in my new quarter sheet pan for desert today. I used to make tape as Sheet Cake years ago when my kids were younger. What other recipes on your site use this pan? Thanks and I love your recipes. Cathy
Christina Lane says
Hi Cathy!
I bake a lot of my cookies on this pan, and I use it to hold my ramekins when I make mini ramekin cakes. I don't have a lot of other recipes that use it here on the site, but my latest cookbook has an entire chapter devoted to the quarter sheet pan: SWEET & SIMPLE: DESSERT FOR TWO
I use it to make mini cake rolls in my book, too!
Linda Daniel says
We always use 13x9 pan to make his fabulous cake. And yessss add I teaspoon cinnamon to the flour. This old Texas gal has made this for years!
Lorrese Roer says
This recipe is perfect for a small family. It is delicious!