This extra moist chocolate sheet cake might just be the perfect birthday cake. It's packed with deep chocolatey flavors thanks to a combo of dutch-processed cocoa powder, oil, and espresso powder. I've covered it in the creamiest vanilla buttercream and of course, sprinkles! Let me tell you, if you bring this cake to a party, people will be begging you for the recipe!
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One of my most popular recipes has to be my chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, and I always get questions around if it can be a sheet cake. I, of course, had to put this to the test!
Turns out, my go-to chocolate cake makes the perfect sheet cake! It's incredibly moist and soft thanks to neutral oil. I added a dash of espresso powder, which really deepens the chocolate flavor (I promise, it doesn't make the cake taste like coffee!).
I added some rainbow star sprinkles, but you could go with classic sprinkles, nonpareils, chocolate sprinkles - whatever you heart desires!
Grab Your Ingredients
- Espresso powder for that chocolate flavor: A secret trick of mine to get a deeper chocolate flavor is to use hot coffee instead of hot water in the cake batter! I mix some espresso powder into the hot water, and boom, you've got a super rich, dark chocolate flavor.
- Neutral oil for an extra moist and tender cake: Swapping out butter for oil not only means we don't have to drag out the stand mixer, but it also means our cake will be super moist. Cocoa powder is very dry, so adding in this neutral oil will help combat any dry texture.
How To Make This Recipe!
- Grease and line your sheet pan. In a large bowl, whisk all of the dry ingredients together. In a small bowl or jug, whisk the wet ingredients (minus the hot coffee!) until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then add your hot coffee (or hot water). It'll be super liquidy but this is key to getting a super moist cake.
- Pour into your prepared sheet pan and bake in the oven. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
- Once cool, make your frosting. Beat softened butter with powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Then add your vanilla extract, salt, and heavy cream. Frost your cake and enjoy!
Ella's Tried and True Tips
- Decorating Your Cake: You can either keep the cake in the pan (much easier to transport if you're bringing this sheet cake to a party!) or remove it from the pan to frost. I like to frost a thin layer of buttercream on top, then use the remaining frosting to pipe a shell border around the edges.
- Different Frostings: I'm using a vanilla bean buttercream (a classic!), but you could swap it out for Oreo frosting, Biscoff frosting, or my all-time favorite fudgy sour cream chocolate frosting.
- Making Ahead: You can make the cake layer a day or two ahead of time. Just keep it wrapped up (my sheet pan actually comes with a cover, which is helpful for this!). You can also frost the cake ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before enjoying (cold cake = not much taste).
Made This Recipe?
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Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Fudgy Chocolate Sheet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
A fudgy and moist chocolate sheet cake frosted with vanilla buttercream! This simple cake is the perfect birthday party cake. It's really easy to whip up and you don't even need a mixer for the cake.
Equipment
- 1 9x13-inch cake pan
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- ¾ cup (65 grams) cocoa powder dutch processed
- 1 ¾ cups (350 grams) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) kosher salt
- 2 large (2) eggs room temperature
- 2 cups (220 grams) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoons) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) very hot water
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional
Vanilla Buttercream
- 2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 cups (480 grams) confectioners' sugar
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
Make Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Butter or grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. I find it easiest to make a 'sling' so you can easily remove the cake later.
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl with a whisk.¾ cup (65 grams) cocoa powder, 1 ¾ cups (350 grams) granulated sugar, 2 cups (220 grams) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoons) baking soda, 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking powder, ¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) kosher salt
- In a large jug, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) vanilla extract, 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil, 2 large (2) eggs
- Slowly pour in the ingredients from the large jug and mix until just combined.
- Mix the espresso powder with the hot water (if using). Slowly add the hot coffee and mix. Your batter will be very thin and it makes a lot of cake batter!1 cup (240 ml) very hot water, 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
- Let the cake cool completely.
Make Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar together on low speed until well combined.2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, 4 cups (480 grams) confectioners' sugar
- Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes until it becomes very thick.
- Stop the mixer and add the salt and vanilla extract into the bowl. Beat on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.3 teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Turn the mixer to your lowest speed and pour in the milk. Beat until it becomes very creamy and spreadable.¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk
- Spread the frosting on top of the cake. I like to save some of the vanilla buttercream and pipe a shell border around the cake!
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven't tested the recipe with this method. Just click on 'US Customary' above the ingredients to see the cup measurements.
I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.
Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, replace it with an equal amount of sour cream or full fat yogurt. You can also make your buttermilk, for every cup of buttermilk add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
Cocoa Powder: make sure to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder and not natural cocoa powder. Not sure what type you have? Check the ingredients! If it mentions alkali or acidity regulators, it's Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
Vegetable Oil: Use an unflavoured oil like canola oil if you don’t have vegetable oil.
Storage: Keep tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
Making Ahead: You can make the cake ahead of time. Bake and then once completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap tightly. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, allow to defrost and come to room temperature before frosting the cake.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
ELVIA says
Alpineella’s cakes turn out sooo delicious and moist. They are easy to make , But this one only 2bowls needed I found this recipe will be my now Go to snack cake. Delicious!!