Vegan Sheet Cake

Texas sheet cake is a perfect summer dessert along with this Vegan Potato Salad.

Vegan Texas Sheet Cake

When I go to a picnic or any outside food gathering, I like to bring the best food! For example, this tasty Vegan Broccoli Salad is always a crowd favorite.

And, of course, any time I bring this vegan Texas sheet cake, there’s always lots of oohs and ahhs. That’s my favorite response to anything I make!

The difference between a regular sheet cake and a Texas sheet cake is that the frosting is poured over the cake while it’s still hot from the oven. This creates an ultra-moist cake!

Ingredients & Substitutions

You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:

• Vegan butter — or substitute coconut oil
• Cocoa powder — I prefer using natural cocoa powder for this recipe.
• Flour — You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour (different than whole wheat flour), or gluten-free baking flour
• Sugar — I typically use granulated sugar, but you can substitute coconut sugar
• Tofu — A typical Texas sheet cake uses sour cream, but for this recipe, we’re using tofu combined with apple cider vinegar. Just about any tofu will do here (because we will be whipping it), but I recommend silken tofu. You can substitute vegan sour cream.
• Vanilla extract

How to Make Vegan Sheet Cake

It’s relatively easy to make this vegan Texas cake. Here are detailed step-by-step instructions.

Step One: Make the Chocolate Sauce

The first step with this batter is to make the chocolate sauce.

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the cocoa and stir until well combined.
   
3. In a separate, small saucepan, heat the water until it’s good and hot.
4. Add the hot water, stir, and bring that mixture to a boil for 20 to 30 seconds.
5. Remove from heat.

Step Two: Combine Dry Ingredients

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

Step Three: Combine Wet Ingredients

In a separate, smaller bowl combine the milk, vinegar, whipped tofu, and vanilla and stir well. Set aside.

Step Four: Make the Batter

Now comes the fun part. Pour the chocolate mixture over the flour mixture and stir well. Then fold in the tofu mixture and stir until everything is well combined.

Step Five: Pour into Pan and Bake

Pour the sheet cake batter into a prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Texas Sheet Cake Frosting

Most cakes require waiting until it cools completely before frosting it, but not with homemade Texas Sheet Cake recipes. You will pour the Texas sheet cake icing while the cake is still warm, allowing the frosting to seep into the cake, making it even more moist and delicious!

So, let’s get to that recipe for Texas sheet cake frosting!

Vegan Texas sheet cake creates a very dense, moist cake with a creamy chocolate frosting infused with pecans.

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, add the cocoa powder
2. Remove from heat and stir in the soy milk and vanilla.
3. Stir in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Then add the chopped pecans, and stir together.
4. Pour the frosting over the still-warm cake, allowing the heat to help spread it evenly across the cake.
   

Once the cake cools slightly, you’ll be ready to slice and serve.

Serving Suggestions

You can serve individual slices with any of the following:

• Coconut Whipped Cream
• Vegan No-Churn Ice Cream
• Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
• Strawberry Purée
• Vegan Caramel Sauce

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Vegan Chocolate Cake Favorites

If you love this vegan chocolate sheet cake, did you know you can veganize cake mix? It’s easy with the right add-ins. Also, here are even more vegan chocolate cake recipes you’ll want to try:

Easy Chocolate Vegan Bundt Cake

85 mins total

Healthy Chocolate Cake

35 mins total

Vegan Strawberry Chocolate Cake

50 mins total

Vegan Chocolate Orange Cake

50 mins total

We hope you love this recipe for Vegan Texas Sheet Cake as much as we do.

Vegan Texas Sheet Cake

I think my mom makes this Texas Sheet Cake every summer which means having a slice of it right now makes me feel all summery inside.

5 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate Save Saved!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 24

Calories: 318kcal

Author: Marly McMillen

Ingredients

CupsMetric

For the Moist Chocolate Cake:

• ▢ 1 cup vegan butter
• ▢ ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ▢ 1 cup hot water
• ▢ 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• ▢ 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ cup almond milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ▢ ½ cup whipped firm tofu place tofu in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Chocolate Pecan Frosting:

• ▢ ½ cup vegan butter
• ▢ ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ▢ 2–3 tablespoons plant-based milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 3–4 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ ½ cup chopped pecans plus more if you’d like to put on top for a nice touch

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Prepare your sheet cake pan by giving it a quick spray of vegetable cooking spray.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cocoa and stir until well combined. In a separate, small saucepan, heat the water until it’s good and hot. Add the hot water, stir, and bring that mixture to a boil for 20 to 30 seconds. Then remove from heat.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
4. In a separate, smaller bowl combine the milk, vinegar, whipped tofu, and vanilla and stir well. Set aside.
5. Pour the hot chocolate mixture over the flour mixture and stir well. Then fold in the tofu mixture and stir until everything is well-combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
6. We will be icing the cake while it is still warm so go ahead and make the frosting while the cake is baking. Melt the butter in a saucepan (I used the same one from the cake…didn’t even bother to rinse it out since the ingredients are so similar) over medium heat. Add the cocoa. Is this sounding familiar?
7. Remove from heat and add the soy milk and vanilla. Stir until combined. Now add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, giving it a good stir between each cup. Add the chopped pecans, stir together.
8. Once the cake is done, remove it from the oven and pour the frosting evenly over the still-warm cake. Let the heat help spread that frosting out all the way through from the far corners of the cake. Make sure the frosting and pecans are equally distributed across the cake.

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Notes

I use what is technically referred to as a “half” sheet cake pan, in that it is 12″ wide X 16″ long by 2″ deep.

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 190mg | Potassium: 71mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 355IU | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.9mg

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Did you make this recipe?

Leave a rating below then tag @namelymarly on Instagram and hashtag it #namelymarly. I love seeing your creations!

This post was originally published in 2013 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2022.

About the Author

Hi! I’m Marly McMillen. I’m the founding editor, author, recipe developer, vegan home chef, and food stylist behind Namely Marly. I’m so grateful to you and every member of my audience for your support and dedication. More about Namely Marly ›