Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake is a fudgy, moist, thin chocolate cake made with Diet Dr Pepper. It’s beyond good and always a crowd-pleaser.
Everyone deserves a sweet reward every now and then and this Diet Dr Pepper Texas Sheet Cake makes the perfect treat! My family actually loves anything chocolate and this is one of their favorite cakes. I’m not exaggerating when I say my husband and two sons can devour this entire cake in one day!!
What is this recipe, Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake? In case you’re wondering, a sheet pan is an 18×13 inch pan with a 1-inch side. A lot of the time, sheet pans are used for brownies, bars, or any baked recipe that isn’t very thick. Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake is a thin chocolate cake covered with chocolate icing. It is the perfect ratio of cake to frosting.
I love the ease of this cake. Because it’s a thin cake the cook time isn’t very long. And with the short cooking time, it’s ready from start to finish in less than an hour.
Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake
When you’re making any cake, if you replace the water with a flavored liquid it will just add more flavor. Dr Pepper® and Diet Dr Pepper® make great substitutions in chocolate cakes. The natural caramel flavoring of these sodas pair well with chocolate enhancing and making the chocolate flavor richer.
I topped by Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake with toasted pecans. I love pecans. You can also use walnuts, cashews, or almonds. I do suggest toasting the nuts to bring out the flavor.
How to toast nuts
You can toast chopped nuts in a dry skillet on your stovetop. Heat nuts in a heavy skillet over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until they’re golden brown and they give off a rich, toasty fragrance. Stir them frequently for even toasting. Remove nuts from pan to cool.
You may also toast nuts in the oven. Simply spread them in a baking pan and bake at 350° until golden brown, stirring often. Generally, nuts will be toasted in 6-8 minutes. Watch them closing. The smell is a good indicator of when nuts are toasted. Remove nuts from pan to cool.
Diet Dr Pepper® Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup salted or unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup Dr Pepper® or Diet Dr Pepper®
Instructions
CAKE
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line with foil an 18x13 inch sheet pan.
- Melt butter.
- Combine melted butter, Diet Dr Pepper, and cocoa.
- Add melted butter mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Add egg mixture and stir until completely combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth evenly.
- Bake 16 to 18 minutes at 375 degrees F.
- Remove from oven to cool.
FROSTING
- In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat.
- Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth.
- Whisk in buttermilk, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
- Whisk until al the ingredients are incorporated and smooth.
- Pour onto warm cake and smooth evenly with an offset spatula.
- Immediately sprinkle with nuts.
- Serve immediately or cool.
- Store cake in airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Ada Fowler says
This sounds delicious! I love Diet Dr Pepper! I drink it all the time and I can’t wait to try it in this cake. I have to make a cake for a party this weekend but don’t have much time to do it, so this is the perfect solution. Thanks for sharing!
Karly Campbell says
Gah. If it’s after 11AM, it’s dessert time, right? Right. I need this ASAP!
Keith @ How's it Lookin? says
Looks great. What a unique recipe, thanks for the idea
Lucy @ Globe Scoffers says
This looks delicious!
Linda says
Paula, what if we replaced the buttermilk in the frosting with Diet Dr Pepper? That might give this cake a really deep Dr Pepper taste. I’ll let you know how it works.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda