Tiny Texas Sheet Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

Tiny Texas Sheet Cake.

Probably the first time I've ever seen "tiny" as a descriptor of something in the Lone Star State.

I, like many New Mexicans, grew up with a strong sense of rivalry with Texas. Texans are proud of their state, but so are New Mexicans and we share a border. It's kind of a one sided rivalry, really--I don't think Texas, in general, pays much us much mind. 

But that only strengthens the rivalry on our part.

I came to appreciate Texas when I went to graduate school in Fort Worth, though. It really is "a whole different country"--the kind of place where it is common to fly a state flag in your yard...just because. The kind of place where people take off their hats and place them over their hearts in reverence when "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is played (Seriously. I witnessed this at a Rangers game). 

Quirky...but it grew on me.

Anyways...

This cake is diminutive, but it's big on flavor!

I've grown up eating Texas Sheet Cakes, but this one is different from my family's recipe. We frost ours with a fudgy, pecan studded frosting while the cake is still warm. It is my Aunt Wanda's signature dessert, and it's fabulous. It makes appearances at many potlucks, family reunions and get-togethers, but the problem (or not problem) is that it is huge. Made in a jellyroll pan. Great for crowds, but too big to make for your family on a weeknight without feeling like a feral hog (also a thing in Texas. Ooof.)

This version is quite good as well--but more like what I'd consider a German chocolate cake. After some research, I learned that the German Chocolate Cake (created in America, not Germany, by a dude named Sam German) and this version of Texas Sheet Cake are related, and this pecan/coconut version is a regional variant. 

It appears that this version of Texas Sheet Cake was inspired by German's Chocolate Cake--which was taking Dallas by storm in the 1950s. Lady Bird Johnson even submitted a chocolate sheet cake recipe to a cookbook. The earliest references go back to the 1930s in Alabama, though--so no, the cake was not invented by the First Lady. But she might have helped make it famous.

Sheet Cakes as it turns out, are often also called "funeral cakes" and are a call back to a northern European tradition of bringing cakes funerals. These American versions are quick to make, easy to transport, and feed a crowd.

Whatever the history, this is a tasty cake. I do think that I will play around and miniaturize the fudgy frosting version as well.

I made this cake at 11 pm last night, because I have no sense of what day it is and forgot that the Cake Slice Bakers were posting this morning (check out the links at the bottom of the post to see what the others baked up!). 

I didn't have any pecans (*clutches at pearls*), so I used some sliced almonds. It was a little more like an Almond Joy Sheet Cake, but still good even though pecans are FAR superior to almonds.

So give this Texas Sheet Cake a try! It might make you clap along with Deep in the Heart of Texas.

My tiny New Mexican enjoying his Tiny Texas Sheet Cake for breakfast.

Tiny Texas Sheet Cake

from Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd

Cake:

1/2 cup butter

3 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup water

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup buttermilk at room temp

1 egg (slightly beaten and at room temp)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping

2 egg yolks

2/3 cup whole milk

2/3 cup sugar

2 T butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 pan and dust with cocoa powder.

2. In a saucepan, bring the butter, cocoa, and water to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Add the chocolate/butter liquid and whisk until incorporated. Add the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla and whisk again until blended, and pour into the prepared pan.

4. Bake the cake 20-25 minutes (mine took 30), and bake until a tester comes out cleanly. Cool on a wire rack.

5. Make the topping by whisking the egg yolks, milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Bring the mix to a boil over medium high heat--whisking constantly until thickened (about 8 minutes). Remove the mix from the heat, stir in vanilla, pecans, and coconut and cool for 15 minutes. Spread on the cake without removing from the pan.

Enjoy ;)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

It is a new year and a new book - Little Everyday Cakes - and our choices for June 2021 were ~ 

Pina Colada Cake

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs

One Egg Dinner Cake

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• A Day in the Life on the Farm

Tiny Texas Sheet Cake

• Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Making Miracles
• A Little Bit of All Right
• Camille Cooks
• Amandie Bakes