Grandma Shoaf’s Quick and Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake
on Jun 03, 2015, Updated Jun 17, 2024
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This quick and easy chocolate sheet cake recipe with easy-to-make homemade icing is the tastiest dessert ever! If you’re celebrating a birthday any time soon, this cake is a perfect option.
My Grandma Shoaf’s famous chocolate sheet cake is absolutely unreal, and sneaky-easy to make thanks to box cake with a seriously divine homemade icing. My grandma raised 13 kids, which means she has a ton of grandkids, too. She loves making this chocolate sheet cake because it’s delicious and feeds a lot of people—a must in our family.
The best part is you cheat a little thanks to the box of cake mix for the cake! And yep, my Grandma uses the cake mix, too. She’s the one who let me in on her time-saving tip. A foolproof homemade icing and some sprinkles seal the deal, and you are done!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Grandma’s easy chocolate sheet cake is deliciously sweet and one of the simplest recipes for chocolate cake—even easier than birthday cupcakes.
- This semi-homemade recipe is seriously divine for making a birthday cake (or any celebration cake)!
- It’s a perfect party food, great for picnics and reunions all throughout the year! Not to brag, but I’ve gotten it down to an art and can make this beauty in just under 30 minutes, start to finish.
- It’s also great the next day, if not better, and it travels really well.
Recipe Ingredients
- Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake Mix – plus ingredients called for on the box
- Butter
- Cocoa powder – I like the dark Dutch-processed kind, but my family prefers normal Hershey’s kind
- Milk
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Sprinkles, optional – any color and design that will fit your party theme!
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions. Bake in a rimmed sheet pan.
- Melt the butter, mixing in cocoa and milk.
- Pour melted butter mix into powdered sugar and mix well until smooth. Add vanilla.
- While the cake is warm, pour icing over the top, spreading quickly, adding sprinkles if desired.
Recipe FAQs
I have made this chocolate sheet cake no less than a million times. Most sheet cake recipes just have you add the powdered sugar to the melted butter and go. I don’t do this because more often than not, the powdered sugar gets lumpy and looks ugly on the cake. The secret to smooth icing here is to add the hot melted butter mixture to powdered sugar while stirring, and not the other way around. Pro tip for sure.
I use the Betty Crocker Devil’s Food mix because it is my favorite chocolate cake that is rich and moist. However there are tons of chocolate cake mixes out there! Everything from fudge to triple chocolate, and all make a good sheet cake. Pick whatever sounds tastiest to you.
Many other cake recipes say to ice your cake after the cake has cooled, but this recipe doesn’t! It is great when you add the icing while the cake is warm because it makes the icing easier to spread and the icing melts slightly so that is soaks in to the cake a little. It’s great and makes for an awesome and easy icing process.
Expert Tips
- The secret to smooth icing for this sheet cake is to add the hot melted butter mixture to powdered sugar while stirring.
- Betty Crocker is my favorite brand of chocolate cake mix, and I prefer Dutch-processed cocoa powder, but you can use whatever brands and kinds you prefer!
- Add the icing while the cake is warm. The icing will spread easier and melt slightly, soaking into the cake just right.
- A great recipe for teaching new bakers since it’s semi-homemade!
More Easy Cake Recipes to Consider
Grandma Shoaf’s Quick and Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 box Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake Mix, plus ingredients called for on the box
For the icing:
- 1/2 cup butter, (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder, (I like the dark dutch-processed kind, and my family prefers normal Hershey's kind)
- 1/3 cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar, (1 pound)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- As many sprinkles as your heart desires! The more the better.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the cake batter according to the package directions, and spread it evenly into a large, rimmed sheet cake pan that's been greased well (also called a Jelly Roll pan and should measure about 17.5×13 inches).
- Bake until the cake is cooked through. You’ll start to smell the cake, and the cake will spring back when touched lightly, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- While the cake is cooking, in a small saucepan heat the butter, milk, and cocoa over medium heat until the butter melts, stirring often. Remove from the heat.
- Add the powdered sugar to a large bowl (you can also use a stand mixer here), and slowly whisk the melted butter mixture into the powdered sugar. Stir until well combined and no lumps remain. Add the vanilla, and stir to combine.
- While the cake is still warm (let it sit for maybe 5 to 7 minutes—you want it hot but not pipping hot), drizzle the icing over the warm cake, and then use a spatula to spread it to the edges. If you try to spread too much or go over the same place again and again, you are going to pull up the top of the cake and get crumbs in your icing. The goal is to quickly spread it out and move on. Too much fussing will make a mess.
- Add the sprinkles while the icing is still warm. The sprinkles will also cover any messes made when spreading the icing!
Notes
- The cake is great warm, at room temperature, and even the next day. No need to refrigerate overnight, as the sugar is an excellent preservative.
- I have a plastic lid that fits my sheet cake pan and makes traveling a breeze. I highly recommend a lid for your pan.
- The secret to smooth icing here is to add the hot melted butter mixture to powdered sugar while stirring
- Add the icing while the cake is warm. This makes the icing easier to spread, and the icing melts slightly, soaking into the cake a little.
Hey Melissa, I was blog hopping and found your blog- I was like- hey i remember that girl from a ward at BYU! your blog is gorgeous- you’ll have to give me some starter tips 🙂 your kids are adorable.
Alia!!! How are you?! With a last name like Cherry it’s hard to forget you 🙂 Your blog is lovely! My only tip is to keep at it… the more content you get on there (and pin your own stuff!) the more things people can find you for. You have a great layout and your writing is perfect. Congrats on being fancy! M.
Yes, im learning quickly that wordpress seems like the place to be. I’m not too invested in my blog quite yet but long term it looks like i’ll have to move over there and get my own domain and all that complicated stuff! How do you find time to do all this? Amazing. Anyway, i’ll have to keep tabs on your blog now and all the yummy things you have to make. Thanks Melissa!
I’ve just been doing it for so long and it’s kind of part of the routine now which is fun. And when you start making a little money from it your husband complains less about the dishes not getting done and you on the computer at night instead. LOL
Hah! Yeah I can see that 🙂 Men never care about the dirty dishes anyway do they? I think only we do!
This cake looks amazing! Will make it for my 4 years old. Thanks for sharing.
I think I just drooled a little….or a lot….oh bother!
I love grandma Shoaf! And thanks for sharing I also use your Aunt Reena’s banana bread. Everyone loves it.