Texas Turtle Sheet Cake is a fun twist on the already decadent Texas Sheet Cake. Chocolate and Caramel lovers unite with this indulgent cake!

This buttermilk cake is super moist and the sinfully good buttermilk icing is topped with chocolate morsels, a caramel drizzle and chopped pecans. There is a little coffee in this cake too which I absolutely love.

Doesn’t that look amazing?

Why is it called Texas Sheet Cake?

If you have ever been to Texas or anywhere in the south really, you’re probably familiar with the oh-so chocolatey sheet pan cake known as the Texas Sheet Cake. It is a buttermilk chocolate cake baked in a jelly roll pan that is topped with a rich buttermilk chocolate frosting. Some say the cake originated in Texas. Other say that it gets its name, because this extra-large chocolate cake is almost the size of Texas.

Texas Turtle Sheet Cake

Most cooks have a Texas Sheet Cake recipe in their repertoire. It’s a simple, delicious, no-fail, crowd pleasing dessert. I love Texas sheet cake, because it is the perfect combination of brownie and cake. The buttermilk in both the cake batter and the frosting puts this chocolate cake recipe over the top.

What does buttermilk do for a cake?

Buttermilk acts as a tenderizer making cakes moist. It is a little bit tangy which helps balance the sweetness of the cake, and there is plenty of sweetness in this cake to be balanced.

Ingredients

(There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this page!)

cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup butter
1 cup strong black coffee
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

chocolate frosting:
1/4 cup butter
4 tablespoons buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

turtle topping:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup caramel sauce, to drizzle

How to Make Turtle Texas Sheet Cake

For this recipe, you can use either a 9×13-inch baking pan or a jelly roll pan. I prefer using the larger pan, but both options are just fine. You can save yourself some scrubbing if you line your pans with parchment paper instead of greasing and flouring.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the pan or use parchment paper.  In a large bowl, combine self-rising flour and granulated sugar. Set aside.

2. In a saucepan, combine 1 cup butter, 1 cup coffee, and 1/3 cup cocoa. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour into the prepared dry ingredients. Using a hand-held mixer, mix on medium speed until wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add eggs and the 1/2 cup of buttermilk. Mix on medium speed for another minute or so, until well combined.

Tip: If you don’t have buttermilk, no worries. Mix 1/2 cup milk with 2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice. Let it sit a few minutes, before you add it to the other ingredients.

3. Pour into baking pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes. When cake is done baking, a toothpick or fork inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean.

4. Prepare the frosting. In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup butter, 4 tablespoons buttermilk, and 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

5. Remove from heat and use a wire whisk to gradually mix in powdered sugar, a 1/2 cup at a time.

6. Spread or pour the warm frosting over the cake. While the frosting is still warm, sprinkle with chopped pecans, and chocolate chips. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

If you don’t have prepared caramel sauce, try making your own slow cooker caramel sauce.

Looking for more delicious cake recipes? Here are my favorites!

• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Cherry Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting
• Double Fudge Coca Cola Cake
• Banana Split Poke Cake
• Bailey’s Irish Cream Cake
• Fresh Strawberry Cake
• Banana Pudding Cake

This recipe was first published in October of 2014 and has been updated with new images. However, the delicious recipe remains the same.