YEE-HAW!
Who wants to bake an authentic Wild West recipe?
The Word at the Saloon is: even the cowboys used to make this on the ranch for a delightful treat. Well, the recipe has been herded down through generations and is now fenced in at my homestead. I’m here to share the best cowboy recipe the Lone-Star State has to offer: Texas Sheet Cake.
This chocolatey Texas Sheet Cake recipe is so freakin’ good! I can eat a whole pan myself over the course of a day or two—I’m not kidding. This homemade sheet cake recipe is a hidden treasure in my family and has been used as a birthday cake for generations! I imagine back on the Texas homesteads, this cake was a sweet treat and easy to bake in the old fire ovens. Every time I bake this easy chocolate sheet cake, the kitchen fills with the familiar scent of chocolate and cinnamon and I’m taken back in time to my great-grandparents’ Texas homestead. The instructions sound a bit old-fashioned (because they are!).
Chocolatey Taxes Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup lard (or butter), softened
- 4 tbsp cocoa
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs, beaten
- a dash of salt
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 tbsp cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 6 tbsp milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 400F. Grease and flour a 12×18 sheet pan.
- Sift together flour and sugar in a large mixing blow
- Mix together butter, shortening, cocoa, and water in a saucepan over medium-low heat; bring to a boil.
- Pour the butter mixture over the sifted flour and sugar. Mix well.
- Add in buttermilk, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, and salt; mix well. Pour into the prepared sheet pan.
- Bake 20 minutes. Five minutes before cake is done, prepare frosting.
Frosting:
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter; add cocoa, vanilla, and milk. Bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and (optional) nuts. Mix well.
- Pour the frosting over the cake while hot.
