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My very favorite little person has a birthday tomorrow.
And you obviously know what this means.
It’s cake time!!
Actually, it’s cake time, times like three. That is how many times I made this cake in less than seventy-two hours.
Ah huh, that is three giant sheet cakes over the course of just two days. No I am not feeding a wedding and yes, if you live in Colorado you should probably stop by for cake. Plus cold milk, muffins, croissants and homemade hot chocolate because I currently have massive amounts of all these things. Let’s just say it’s been a busy and interesting week, full of stress, excitement and lots of good stuff coming from my oven.
The muffins smell amazing, the croissants are just perfection, the hot chocolate is just so cozy, but this cake?? Oh this cake, it’s basically all kinds of wonderful. Yes, I do know how cheesy that sounds, but it’s true, it’s a cake that dreams are made of – it is, it is.
So while the muffins, croissants and hot chocolate all had other purposes, the cake had only one purpose – birthday celebrations!! Well, birthday celebrations on the blog at least.
See, my cake making is not even close to being over yet. Tomorrow, this simple chocolate birthday cake will be made because no Gerard family birthday is complete without THAT traditional cake. Then a week from tomorrow yet another cake will be made for Asher’s birthday party, which was pushed back a week because her best friend will be camping this weekend. She simply could not have a birthday party without her best friend. So basically in true Gerard fashion, little Asher’s birthday is being spread out over the week.
Princess?? Oh my gosh, totally. But I guess that is what you get being the youngest…. and the cutest little person ever. Can you tell I love this girl to death? Because I do.
Oh, and I just have to tell you what I got her. If you do not want to hear about this skip on to after the next picture, but if you want to hear all about the pretty Elsa dress I got her then read on.
So this dress, oh my gosh. It was way too much money to spend on a six-year old’s birthday present, but I could not resist. Like every little girl her age, she is mildly obsessed with the Disney movie Frozen and anything to do with Queen Elsa. Really, I cannot blame her. I love that movie and think it is the cutest movie ever, and I usually hate animated movies.
I found this dress on eBay and you guys, it is so cute. She is gonna freak. So excited to give it to her.
Ok so anyway, this Chocolate Meringue Texas Sheet Cake. I made it three times. It’s not hard or even time consuming in the least, I am just a perfectionist and it took me three tries to get it completely perfect and even then I was not one hundred percent happy. I mean, all three cakes tasted amazing. It’s not the taste I was trying to perfect, it was more the look. I wanted the cake to look just as good as it tastes.
I still do not feel like I completely achieved what I was going for, but all that really matters is the taste. You guys if you like moist and gooey chocolate cake than this is for you. It’s actually so gooey it’s intense… but in a very good way!
The base of the cake is a simple Texas Sheet Cake. This was actually my first Texas Sheet Cake, but not my last for sure. They are so easy and so good. Once you have the cake baked, you simply drizzle on the magic layer. Meaning the gooey chocolate. I call it the magic layer because I think anything containing sweetened condensed milk is magic. That stuff works wonders on anything and everything.
After the magic layer comes the chocolate meringue. This is an easy meringue because you do not have to worry about cooking it properly. This meringue stays soft and gooey and trust me, it is such a good thing. It’s even better eaten slightly warm. Oh my gosh, yes. Slightly warm with a heavy dusting of powdered sugar and a cold glass of milk. And for me, minus the raspberries you see on top there. Remember I do not mix my chocolate and my berries. Only for pictures, not for eating.
My only little note about this recipe is that you have to use a baking dish with high sides and not an actual sheet pan. A lasagna baker would work great, or something a little bigger than a 9×13 inch baking dish. I used a 10×15 inch Pyrex pan and it was the perfect fit. Â I do not recommend using a jelly roll pan as I tried that on trial number two. Basically my gooey magic layer went all over the oven, which clearly made me really sad. I mean, I had to clean the oven… and I lost my precious magic layer.
Bummer.
So please, use something with high sides!!
Other than that this cake is pretty simple and straight forward.
Bonus, it’s larger size makes it perfect for Labor Day too!
Magic Gooey Chocolate Meringue Texas Sheet Cake.
Servings: 20 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 470 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup brewed coffee
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
Gooey Chocolate
- 2 1/4 cups sweetened condensed milk cans)
- 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped
Meringue
- 6 egg whites
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 3 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate melted
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10x15 inch high sided baking dish. I used a 10x15 inch pyrex pan, but a lasagna baker would work too.
- To make the cake, place the butter, cocoa powder and coffee in a medium size sauce pot. Melt the butter over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and combined. Remove from the heat and add the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk until just combined, it is ok if some flour chunks remain. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla and greek yogurt until just combined and smooth. Again, it is ok if the batter is a little lumpy.
- Pour the batter into the greased baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until just set on top. Remove from the oven.
- While the cake is baking, make the gooey chocolate. Combine the sweetened condensed milk and chopped dark chocolate in a small sauce pan and slowly melt the chocolate into the sweetened condensed milk over low heat until melted and smooth. Keep warm.
- Once the cake is out of the oven pour the gooey chocolate over the cake, spreading it out in an even layer.
- To make the meringue. Add the egg whites to a clean mixer bowl. Using a clean whisk attachment, beat on high speed until you have soft peaks. With mixer running, slowly add sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, add the vinegar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes. Gently fold in the corn starch and cocoa powder being careful not to deflate the whites. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the meringue. Do not stir the melted chocolate completely into the meringue as you want streaks of chocolate.
- Carefully spread the meringue over the cake. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the meringue is just set on top. Remove the cake and allow to cool 1 hour. Cut and dust with powdered sugar before serving. This can be served slightly warm, at room temp or straight from the fridge. We loved it slightly warm!
But really, who can resist that. So fudgy.
I hate the flavor of coffee and would prefer not to include in this recipe. What would you suggest as a substitute or should I just omit the coffee?
I’m very excited to try this recipe just minus the coffee!
Hi Jessalyn,
You can use water in place of the coffee. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Hi Tegan, is this cake best eaten on same day or still fabulous the next day? Looking for a recipe to bake and take to work next day.
Gail S
Hey Gail,
Totally great the next day as well!! Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it!! xTieghan
can i divide the recipe in half?
Hey there,
Yes, you can definitely cut the recipe in half. I hope you love the cake. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! I’m excited to make this for a friend for her birthday. Her fav combination is dark chocolate and raspberries, so this is perfect.
One question…
I know the recipe says high sided baking dish, but in the video it looks like maybe a 1/4 sheet pan. Will that work for this sheet cake?
Any other advice or suggestions?
Thank you!
Hey Patti,
Yes, that will work well for you!! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Fantastic!!!!!!!!! Made it last night and tasted incredible!
Hey Anne,
I am thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for trying it out. Have a great weekend! xTieghan
For the merengue, would regular sugar work?
Hi there,
For the best texture, I would use super fine sugar:) Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
100% it would work just fine! Thats what i made it with, if worried could throw sugar in food processor and pulse a couple of times.
Thanks for sharing Breah!
I made this today after drooling over the recipe for a week. I would just like clarification on a couple things. The recipe calls for “2 1/4 cups sweetened condensed milk cans)” for the Gooey Chocolate layer. Each can contains 14 oz. so I assumed you meant 2 cans since it was such a big cake. Is that correct? The next ingredient is 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped. Is this unsweetened chocolate? What percentage of cacao would you recommend? or is it supposed to be unsweetened? That’s what I added, and it was delicious. I could have eaten the “gooey chocolate” all by it’s self. Finally, you call for 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of unsweetened baking cocoa and then 1/2 dark chocolate, melted. Again, what kind of dark chocolate would you recommend. I was frightened of the meringue since I hadn’t made it forever, but it turned out very good even though I didn’t add the melted chocolate because it had seized when I tried to microwave it because I read the instructions first, but somehow missed that you added two kinds of chocolate. How yummy this was! I’ve had Texas sheet cake before but this brought it to a whole new level. And for Erica Lea who said she wished she had the right size pan, Walmart sells one for $5.88. I, too did not have that size pan and did not want to invest in one that was expensive.
Hey Mariann,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for giving it a try! Yes, that is correct for the condensed milk. For the dark chocolate, it is really personal preference on what you want to use and the percentage of cacao. Again, you can use any kind of dark chocolate that you enjoy for the following step. I hope this helps! Happy New Year! xTieghan
I was volunteered to make dessert for a banquet for around 70 people. Unfortunately,the event got rescheduled to a date on which our son will have his final wrestling meet of his college career and I need something (and this looks perfect!) that can be made ahead of time. Can I make this 2-3 days ahead of time or will the meringue layer dissolve? Thanks!!
Hey Erin,
This might not be the best option for you. Maybe give this one a try:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/one-bowl-chocolate-sheet-cake-with-milk-chocolate-fudge-frosting/
I hope this helps!! xTieghan
Just made this and it turned out perfectly. Do you recommend storing in fridge and reheating to serve?
Hey Paige,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! You can store in the fridge, yes! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I have made this cake before and absolutely loved it!! I want to make it again but would love to half it so that we don’t have as much, is there a pan size you would recommend if I cut this in half? Thank you!
Hi Kelsey,
I would use a square brownie pan. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hey,
Just out of curiosity how many slices did you get out of this recipe (just roughly) I’m looking to cook this for a birthday but need to know the quantities of ingredients
thanks!
keep up the amazing work : )
Thanks so much for the kind words!! I got about 12 slices. Hope the cake is a hit!
Just out of curiosity how many slices of cake did you get out of this recipe?
Hey Jess, I got about 12 slices. Let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! 🙂
This cake is so good! My family loved it and so did I. Many greetings from Poland 🙂
SO excited you loved this!! Thank you!
Has anyone tried freezing this cake?
Even just a week
I am sorry, I have not and I honestly cannot say how it would turn out. SO sorry I cannot help!
The cake was a huge HIT last night. I served it with your salted Baileys cream. Bakes the cake for 16 minutes and the fudge layer and meringue for 20. Will definitely be making this again for the chocolate lovers in my family. Quite easy and not overly sweet which we all appreciated! Thanks for the great recipe! 🙂
Hi Tieghan,
I happened to stumble across your blog the other day, and because of you, I have spent several hours pouring over your beautiful pictures, while salivating, and dreaming of drowning in lakes of chocolate and peanut butter. haha! You should be very proud of yourself, this is a beautiful site!!
I have one question… I am making the above cake (magic gooey meringue texas sheet cake) and currently have it cooling on my kitchen counter. Do you leave it to cool in the pan until serving (another five hours away) or do you take it out of the pan, after the hour of cooling your instructed, and leave it on a cooling rack. I just am concerned the cake will go soggy. I am going to serve this with your salted, baileys whip cream in honor of St. Patrick. Keep up the excellent and inspiring work! 🙂
Hello Tieghan,
I have a 13 x 17 pan, super deep I found a WalMart and I want so badly to bake your cake in it. Do you think the pan will be too big? How might I make it work?
Thank you,
Dianna
Hey Dianna,
I think that pan will work great, jut keep checking to make sure it is not over cooking. Let me know of you have anymore questions and I hope you love the cake!
Love the photo flip!
Thank you!