Vegan Sheet Cake
This Vegan Texas Sheet Cake is everything you want in a chocolate cake. Imagine tender, moist cake topped with pecan-infused chocolate icing.
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Texas sheet cake is a perfect summer dessert along with this Vegan Potato Salad.
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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!
Reader Reviews
★★★★★
Really gooey and good, I accidentally made it in a 9×13 the first time and it was so good I didn’t even notice I made a mistake.★★★★★
LeeAnn
Made the cake for a friend’s birthday party (used a vanilla frosting). It was delicious!
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
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- MOIST — The chocolate frosting is poured over the cake while it’s still hot, filling every pore of the cake with deliciously sweet moisture.
- TEXTURE — Chopped Pecans add crunch and amazing flavor to the frosting.
- CROWD FAVORITE — Everyone loves this rich, delicious cake!
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, add the cocoa powder
- Remove from heat and stir in the soy milk and vanilla.
- Stir in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Then add the chopped pecans, and stir together.
- 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.
Marly’s Tips
The shiny top comes from applying the frosting while the cake is still hot.
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
Storage Tips
Cover leftover cake slices (or store them in an airtight container). They will keep at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days. You can freeze this cake (either whole or individual slices) in an appropriate freezer container or bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
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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:
We hope you love this recipe for Vegan Texas Sheet Cake as much as we do.
Vegan Texas Sheet Cake
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Ingredients
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
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Prepare your sheet cake pan by giving it a quick spray of vegetable cooking spray.
- 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.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- In a separate, smaller bowl combine the milk, vinegar, whipped tofu, and vanilla and stir well. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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
Nutrition
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.
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 ›
32 Responses to Vegan Sheet Cake
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I don’t get the coconut sub for sugar- could you explain? Does it make the whole cake taste like coconut? What kind?
Hi SB. I oftentimes will sub out coconut sugar for granulated sugar in my recipes. I find it in health food stores or online. It has a lovely dark color and rich caramel-like flavor.
Really gooey and good, I accidentally made it in a 9×13 the first time and it was so good I didn’t even notice I made a mistake
Made the cake for a friend’s birthday party (used a vanilla frosting). It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe
I made this with coconut oil instead of margarine – and it worked wondefully! Thank you!
This turned out so good! One of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had, and it’s my favorite food. I cut the butter in half and substituted 1/2 cup of applesauce. Also, cut the butter in the frosting in half, not substituting anything and turned out great! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
So glad you liked this recipe Sarah! Your adaptations sound spot on!
Delicious, everyone loved it! Clear, easy directions to follow (thank you). No one else knew it was vegan – but I was happy I could eat it too. 🙂
Thanks, Holly! I’m so glad you had a good experience with this recipe and that everyone loved it! We usually make this in the summer but it makes a wonderful treat any time of the year!
I made this sheet cake today and it turned out great! I used coconut oil instead of vegan butter and used walnuts instead of pecans (my granny from Indiana always made this with walnuts).. Thanks for this great vegan version!
Thanks, Nina! So glad you loved it. Also, love your adaptations. Walnuts are amazing with chocolate! ❤️
The instructions say “sheet cake pan,” but what size was it? I’ve never used or seen one of those before.
Hi Kimberly, This is such a great question and thank you for asking it! It’s so easy to have assumptions around things like the size of a sheet cake pan! I will adapt the recipe to indicate that 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. This sheet cake pan is similar to the one I used, but a little bit bigger.
Hi what is the substitute for tofu?
We are lacto vegetarian so no issues on using dairy products…
Thanks in advance…
Hi Swetha. Well, that tofu is serving as the egg replacer so you could try using applesauce or even a tablespoon of ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons of water. You could try a mashed banana or even a measure out a half cup of mashed avocados. I hope this is helpful!
Trying this for Memorial weekend!!
Looks gorgeous and absolutely delicious! Pinning this beauty!
Sounds delicious and i want to make it straight away…just how much ist a STICK of margerin? <3
Thanks for pointing out my ambiguous directions. “One stick” of margarine is small-town Missouri talk for 1/2 cup. Sometimes you can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl. 😉
Gorgeous cake. Sheet cake is one of those quintessential summer desserts. Easy to carry for potlucks, picnics, and barbecues.
You did a lovely job on this cake, Marly!!
I keep looking for good recipes to fool my meat-loving husband. This one should work. He thinks my plant to eat more plant based will mean no more good tasting food.
This is brilliant…I am so making this and will feel no shame as I devour the entire pan. 🙂
It’s vegan so it comes entirely without guilt. Oh, how I wish that were true…
I mean, it is true that it’s vegan…and being vegan means it’s cholesterol free which is a good thing. But, alas, it is not calorie free. So I truly enjoy these…but with some restraint. But a little unrequitedness makes a thing just a little bit better. Don’t you think?
Oh, yum. We have more and more Vegan friends now so this will be great for summer entertaining! Thanks girl! See you in Austin!
You had me at sheet cake.
this sounds delicious. I never offer to take dessert when we go out but with this cake, I will. I wonder what kind of tofu you used – regular or silken – soft or firm.
Thanks
I used more of a firm tofu – I think it does a better job creating a moist cake. Thanks for catching that – I’ll add it to my ingredients!
You did an amazing job with this cake, vegan or not! But keeping it vegan is EXTRA impressive! Pinned!