Texas Sheet Cake

I made this for a teacher dinner I helped put on at the kids' school this last week.  It was my first time making Texas sheet cake and I will have to look no further for a good recipe.  This one was a winner. It came from allrecipes.com.  The recipe calls for a 10 x 15" pan so if your pan is larger or smaller you may need to adjust the recipe accordingly.  I tripled the recipe and spread it between two 11 x 17" metal pans and it worked out great.

Texas Sheet Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

6 Tbsp milk
5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10x15 inch pan.

2) Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat in the sour cream and eggs. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the egg mixture, mixing until blended.  **If I ever make this again, I will cook the chocolate mixture first so it can be cooling while I'm mixing the other ingredients.  

3) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4) For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake.  **It starts to harden up quickly so you have to time it so that the icing is ready at the same time the cake comes out of the oven.