Salted Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

slice of texas chocolate sheet cake topped with chopped walnuts and flaked sea salt

Salted Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake

Servings

Calories 309kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

CAKE

1 cup unsalted butter plus 1 tablespoon butter or crisco for pan
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1-2 tablespoons for pan
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour about 10 ounces
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk or 1 Tablespoon vinegar + enough whole milk to equal ½ cup; let sit a few mintues to curdle
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FROSTING

½ cup unsalted butter
6 tablespoons whole milk
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pound powdered sugar sifted (about 3 ½ cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts chopped; omit for nut free
1 tablespoon flaky sea salt such as Maldon or Cypriot

Instructions

CAKE

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and coat a 15x10 jelly roll baking pan.
Bring cocoa powder, butter, and water to a boil in a small saucepan; remove from heat.
Meanwhile, whisk sugar, baking soda, salt, and flour in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla to well. Blend with a whisk, then gradually whisk in dry ingredients. Add butter-cocoa mixture ⅓ at a time, whisking until smooth. Scrape batter into prepared baking pan and smooth top.
Bake until cake starts to pull away from edges of dish and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 15–20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack.

FROSTING

When cake has finished baking, heat butter, milk, and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan over low heat, whisking occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth (do not let boil). Whisk in vanilla and remove from heat. Whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.
Pour warm frosting over warm cake and spread out and smooth with a spatula. Top with nuts and sea salt.
Serve slightly warm or room temperature.
Enjoy!

Notes

PRO TIP! To make cake bites for a party: Freeze entire cake for about 30 minutes or until frosting is firm. Warm chefs knife in hot water and cut cake into 1"- 1 ¼" squares, wiping and warming knife in between cuts. This will yield 100+ cake squares with nice, clean edges. Place squares in mini baking cups and serve!

Nutrition