Texas Sheet Cake and the Power to Just BE

Texas Sheet Cake

Mom Does It Best

Why did I choose a Texas Sheet Cake for this cake of the week? Why would I NOT choose a Texas Sheet Cake? To be honest, I would choose a Texas Sheet Cake every day. The funny thing about that is that I can count on one hand how many times I’ve made one.

I actually chose to make this cake for my mom’s 80th birthday. There are certain things that I don’t make, only because they are “my mom’s things”. If your mom was a good cook and you love food, you know what I’m saying. There also comes a point where your mom can’t make them anymore, and then you are at a crossroads. Do you simply leave it on a pedestal, as an untouchable that only Mom made? Or do you go ahead and make it a “you thing”?

There are a couple of things that I finally took my chance with, knowing I wouldn’t get them quite right (scalloped corn, for one—my mom’s was unsurpassed). In the case of this cake, I had an out, because this wasn’t my mom’s recipe, so the same nostalgia didn’t apply. 

The author of Vintage Cakes, Julie Richardson, points out that Texas Sheet Cake is the perfect go-to for a picnic or potluck—quick to whip up and always a hit. That’s probably why it became one of my mom’s things, and I have pleasant memories of it.

Pleased By Ease

For this recipe, keep the mixer in the cabinet. The cocoa base begins in a saucepan before it’s turned into the bowl of dry ingredients. The eggs and buttermilk are folded in with a rubber spatula to finish. Then, away it goes into the oven.

I reused the saucepan for the frosting since they practically started the same. The powdered sugar is even whisked into the saucepan to finish off the frosting. I couldn’t help but sample its gooey chocolatiness. Can anyone? 

Simple, but Special

I always highlight a special element in these recipes, but the beauty of this one is that a little over a dozen UN-special ingredients came together to offer up something very special, indeed. I could eat this sheet cake every day.

While there are no remarkable ingredients (other than rich, luscious cocoa), what makes this cake special is that both the cake and the frosting must be warm when united. The warm, indulgent frosting flows beautifully over the expanse of moist cake for a smooth, shiny finish. 

That’s why this cake is absolutely boss when you need something in a pinch…no waiting for anything to cool. 

Get. In. My. Belly.

After drooling over this cake while baking and sampling the decadent frosting, I told my husband he needed to drive really fast to my mom’s house. I mean, I wanted to see her, but I really needed to get that cake in my pie hole (I mean cake hole).

A Texas Sheet Cake is nothing impressive to look at, especially since I skipped the nuts on top. I needed to take a picture to post, but I had to laugh at the absolute zero visual interest. It looked like a pan of mud. But for what it lacked in aesthetics, it disappeared so fast it didn’t matter. 

You see that I took a picture of a slice with pretty, green mint chip ice cream. Full disclosure…that was my husband’s ice cream. I’m a cake purist. I do love ice cream with cake, but I have to eat it alone first out of respect for the cake. This cake was amazing, and just writing about it makes me want to bake another. 

What I find quite hilarious about this recipe is that it says the cake will keep for up to five days. There is no universe in which this cake would last five days. We smashed it in a day and a half—I should be embarrassed about that. Let’s be fair; I left several pieces at my parents’.

Just Be: The Transcend Moment

My whole point in starting this cake-a-week project was not only to enjoy cake (because who doesn’t) but to see what lessons or realizations arose in the process.

Admittedly, not only was this cake brown and flat, but my intention to use it as a lesson similarly fell flat. It’s almost funny. Brown is the most uninteresting and least stimulating color, and a smooth, flat cake offered no visual stimulation, just as I was feeling uninspired to extract a profound lesson. 

But I guess that’s the thing. Sometimes it’s okay to just…be. So my lesson of “no lesson” kind of taught me a lesson. 

I used to put so much pressure on myself to make things perfect (beautiful cakes, for example), and I realized that’s exactly what I felt like I needed to do with this post. But like the brown turd of a cake (that tasted phenomenal, anyway), it’s okay if this reflection isn’t life-changing. 

It still has value. Sometimes we need to take a minute to appreciate the privilege to just…BE. Be still. Be content. Be alive. Be well.

Today’s lesson is to recognize the value of just…being.