Talida Bakes

Happy Texas Independence Day – Texas Sheet Cake

Happy Texas Independence Day, y’all! If you haven’t heard already, I’m a born and raised Texan. Houstonian to be exact. And to celebrate the day, I made a Texas sheet cake in the shape of Texas. Now you may not recognize the state as I had a slight mishap getting my cake out of the pan. I tried my very best to reconstruct the cake in its proper shape, but the unique shape of Texas made it a tad difficult.

See, I have proof that it was meant to be the Lone Star State.

And here we have a slice of West Texas. Who knew El Paso was so sweet and moist? I tried to find the origins of the cake’s name, but nobody has a clear answer as far as I can tell. My best guess is that this chocolate cake is so good, it had to be named after the best state in America.

I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it … For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans.
- John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Texas Sheet Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
1. Sift flour and sugar together in a medium bowl.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add in cocoa and water and bring to a boil.
3. Pour cocoa mixture over flour and sugar and mix thoroughly.
4. Add remaining ingredients to the mixture, mix until smooth.
5. Pour into a greased and floured Texas-shaped pan. Bake at 350 F degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Let cake slightly cool, invert cake, and pour Texas Sheet Cake Frosting on top.

Texas Sheet Cake Frosting

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons black coffee
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add in cocoa and coffee and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
2. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Stir in pecans until well incorporated.

13 Responses to “Happy Texas Independence Day – Texas Sheet Cake”

1. Lisa (Homesick Texan):
   March 2nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm

   That is awesome! I have one of those Texas-shaped pans but never baked a sheet cake in it, just big cookies. Time to change that!

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2. tim:
   March 2nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm

   i wish we were at home eating this while watching tv!

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3. lease:
   March 2nd, 2009 at 9:28 pm

   I love it! The cake and the quote–to think I would have forgotten about this beloved holiday :) What kind of texan am I?

   p.s. how many homesick texans named lisa do you know?? (this is the salazar one, btw)

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4. talida:
   March 3rd, 2009 at 3:01 am

   @Lisa(Homesick Texan): Thanks! I bet you’ll make something great in it. Can’t wait to see what you think up.

   @tim: me too

   @lease: Lisa! Aren’t you no longer a Salazar? Happy Texas Independence Day!

   [Reply]

5. mike c:
   March 4th, 2009 at 10:06 pm

   i don’t know which part of texas i ate but it was delicious! thanks for baking and thanks tim for bringing it in!

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6. Anonymous:
   March 4th, 2009 at 10:10 pm

   Tim brought it in to work today; it tasted awesome. I liked the frosting the most.

   Good stuff.

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7. alex:
   March 4th, 2009 at 10:17 pm

   This cake was delicious – the high point of my afternoon!

   yeee hawww

   Thanks Tim and Talida!

   now back to work :/

   [Reply]

8. talida:
   March 5th, 2009 at 2:40 am

   @mike c @Anonymous @alex: Glad y’all liked it! I’m just glad all that cake didn’t go to waste.

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9. Ulla:
   March 12th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

   I love this cake. It is so good:)
   And easy!:)

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10. Anonymous:
    June 17th, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    sorry if this is a stupid question — but my sister's moving to texas and i'm baking this cake for her going away party. your recipe sounds delicious, but do you use coffee that's brewed or just ground beans? please let me know if you have a chance — thanks!

    [Reply]

11. talida:
    June 17th, 2009 at 1:46 pm

    @Anonymous Not a stupid question at all. I used 6 tablespoons of strongly brewed coffee. If you only have instant coffee on hand, I can imagine that would work too, as long as it's in liquid form. The frosting should have a pourable consistency. Let me know how it comes out!

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12. Anonymous:
    November 12th, 2009 at 9:07 pm

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    Sorry for offtopic

    [Reply]

13. Anonymous:
    November 20th, 2009 at 9:16 pm

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    [Reply]

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