← Back to the recipe

Print: One-Bowl Chocolate Sheet Cake with Fudgy Frosting

Press Ctrl+P (⌘P on a Mac) to print.

Big type for easier reading on US Letter or A4; long recipes run onto a second page.

Chocolate Sheet Cake · One-Bowl

One-Bowl Chocolate Sheet Cake with Fudgy Frosting

A moist, deeply chocolate cake mixed in one bowl and baked in a 9x13 pan, topped with a soft fudgy frosting. It feeds a crowd and needs no layering skills at all.

Scan for the recipe
Prep
20 min
Cook
32 min
Total
2 hr 25 min
Serves
16 · one 9x13 cake
Level
Easy

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup hot coffee or hot water

Frosting

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • ⅓ cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch kosher salt

Steps

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and dust it with a spoonful of cocoa, tapping out the extra.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt until there are no cocoa lumps.
  3. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute.
  4. Carefully whisk in the hot coffee. The batter will be thin, and that's exactly right.
  5. Pour into the pan and bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  6. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack.
  7. For the frosting, beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the cocoa. Add the powdered sugar and milk a little at a time on low, then the vanilla and salt. Beat on medium until smooth and spreadable.
  8. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and cut into squares.

Tip: Coffee deepens the chocolate flavor; the cake won't taste like coffee. Hot water works fine too.

Tip: In a glass dish, check a few minutes early since glass holds more heat.

Storage: Cover and keep at room temperature up to 3 days.

Make ahead: Bake the cake a day ahead, cover tightly once cool and frost the next day.

Estimated nutrition per serving: 370 calories · protein 4 g · carbohydrates 60 g · fiber 3 g · sugars 45 g · fat 15 g (saturated 6 g) · sodium 300 mg. Estimate from USDA FoodData Central; not medical or dietary advice. Based on 17 of 17 ingredients.