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
Turtle Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a jelly roll pan or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine self-rising flour and granulated sugar. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Remove from heat and use a wire whisk to gradually mix in powdered sugar, a 1/2 cup at a time.
- 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.
Nutrition
This recipe was first published in October of 2014 and has been updated with new images. However, the delicious recipe remains the same.
I just finished making this. The house smells lovely and it looks to die for! I am serving it with Sunday dinner to celebrate a goal I reached. I deserve every piece I’m going to have. 😉
do you think I could leave the coffee out, I hate coffee but it looks soooo good otherwise
I’m thinking that would be just fine. Please let us know how it turns out!
Is it made coffee (liquid form) or coffee grounds for the recipe?
Hi – I have the cake in the oven as I type this….seems to be taking longer than the 25 – 30 minutes.
But my question is this:
It says to spread the warm frosting over the cake…got that…but then it says…put the choc. chips, pecans and caramel over warm cake…now does that mean you put the frosting on the cake while it is warm? Just needing an answer quickly. Don’t want to mess this up!
Love your blog!
Karen
Oh yay! I hope you love this cake. Oven temps vary some, so just bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Yes, spread the warm frosting over the cake while it’s still warm. Then right away sprinkle all the goodies over the top. Please let us know how you like it.
Thank you so much
Got the cake out of the oven, made the frosting, topped it and it looks awesome!
Thanks for such a wonderful recipe.
I’m going to use the frosting recipe now instead of my other fudge recipe!
Blessings
Karen
Fantastic! I hope your family enjoys it. 🙂
Well, my husband and I are on a self induced diet LOL.
I made this for my rug hooking/punch needle gathering for tomorrow.
I do know it will be devoured – and I will be one of the gals who eats a piece. A gals needs a little fun while dieting.
Is there a way I can follow your website??? I really love what i see.
Come visit my two blogs when you get a chance.
mycolonialhome.blogspot and kmprimitives.blogspot
Blessings to you
Karen
I just made this using liquid coffee, the cake IS a little thin & I’m not sure 30 min will be long enough. I used cake flour & shifted the flour 1st. Waiting to see what happens. Thanks for the recipe. Any other little tips would help. How long do you boil coffee, butter & cocoa?
Looks yummy.
I don’t drink coffee–what can I substitute?
Also, I’m allergic to eggs; what can I substitute?
Thanks!
Oh my, I wouldn’t be able to stop eating this!! I wasn’t some now!!!
Oh my ! Yummy !
For the cocoa, do you use cocoa powder or baking chocolate?
Also, i don’t drink coffee so could I just leave that out or would i have to make some other adjustments to the liquids in the recipe?
Hi Stephanie, yes, that is cocoa powder. Since it’s a full cup of coffee, I wouldn’t recommend simply omitting it. I haven’t tried this but I would try a cup of water and maybe bump up the cocoa powder a bit to enhance the flavor you lose from the coffee. I hope that helps.
I don’t have self rising flour. What would I add with regular all purpose flour?
Self-rising flour is basically all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt added. To make your own, use the following ratios: combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
You gals need to make a cookbook – seriously! I love this cake idea with the black coffee and buttermilk, and of course, this turtle topping!!!