I make a lot of different desserts and assorted confections, but cake — just plain old cake — is something I don’t do anywhere near as often as you might think. I’m always making some kind of variation, like last week’s lemon sauce cake, or an icebox cake, but rarely just a normal cake.
Is today any different? No, not really. The cake I made is a Texas sheet cake; a broad, thin chocolate cake, topped with an icing made of a chocolate ganache, and a sprinkle of chopped pecans.
Why is it called a Texas sheet cake? It’s not really clear. Some people say it’s a variation on a sheet cake that Texans created using pecans. Others call it a Texan cake because it’s huge, like Texas.
What about the funeral cake name? Also originating from Texas, it’s a carry-over of a European tradition of bringing cakes to funerals. There’s no difference in the recipe between the funeral and non-funeral versions, it’s just a name.
Either way, you know what you’re getting into. Rich chocolate, decadent icing, crunchy pecans, and a lot of it. My recipe is actually more of a half-recipe, since I’m only baking for two and too-large desserts end up wasted, but if you have multiple pans or one really, really large one, feel free to double it.
Texas Sheet Cake (Funeral Cake)
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Jelly Roll Sheet Pan 8×13"; you want one with a taller rim to hold the cake and icing.
- Rubber Spatula
- Sauce Pan
- Whisk
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 Cup Water
- 1 Cup Butter
- ¼ Cup Cocoa Powder
- 2 Cups Flour
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- ½ Cup Sour Cream
- 2 Eggs At room temperature
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Icing
- ½ Cup Butter
- ½ Cup Milk
- ¼ Cup Cocoa Powder
- 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉. Grease your jelly roll pan.
- In one bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set this aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, and cocoa powder to a boil, then turn off the heat. Whisk this until it's smooth, then add and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Add the sour cream and egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir together. I did it by hand; a hand mixer or stand mixer works, but you want to avoid over-mixing.
- Add the warm chocolate mixture to the flour mix and mix together until it's all combined and smooth.
- Pour your batter into the jelly roll pan and bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, use another sauce pan to make the frosting. Bring the milk, butter, and cocoa powder to a boil.
- Turn the heat off and mix in the powdered sugar. Once that mixture is smooth, stir in half of the pecans.
- Keep this frosting warm and liquid until the cake is done baking. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and pour the warm frosting over the top of it. Excess frosting may spill over the sides, so be prepared for that if necessary.
- Once that's done, let the cake and frosting cool, and serve.