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Texas Sheet Cake Fudge

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This Texas Sheet Cake Fudge has pieces of chocolate sheet cake and chopped pecans in it covered in a fudge and pecan icing.

This Texas Sheet Cake Fudge is the newest edition to my out there fudge flavor collection. 🙂

I was feeling uninspired in general this year for the holidays.

And I still am a little.

But I was looking through my cookbook (I do bake out of my own book) and saw the Texas Sheet Cake in there and immediately thought about turning it into fudge.

I knew that I would have to put the icing on the fudge.

I mean, I’ve dipped fudge in chocolate before but never frosting it.

But I felt the icing was an important part of the Texas Sheet Cake flavor and needed to be added.

While I added pecans to my fudge, if you are not a nut person, you can omit them.

However, I do feel they help cut the sweetness of the fudge and really add to the flavor.

Ingredient Highlights:

  • Unsalted Butter: You need to make sure you use European butter with the highest butterfat you can find. I make most of my fudge with a 85% butterfat butter. Most of the butter you find at the store is 80%. European butter starts at 83%.
    Can I use Vegetable Shortening? Yes, if you don’t do dairy you can use vegetable shortening such as Crisco.
  • Baker’s Sugar: Also known as Superfine Sugar. It is granulated sugar that has been finely ground so the crystals are smaller. As a result, it dissolves easier than regular granulated sugar. Your fudge will be less grainy if you use this type of sugar.
  • Semisweet Chocolate: While you can certainly use milk chocolate, this is a pretty sweet fudge due to it being frosted. So I went with semisweet to cut down the sweetness.
  • Texas Sheet Cake: I have you make your own mini Texas Sheet Cake. I wanted the authentic cake used in making a Texas Sheet Cake. You will have extra of the cake (which I used to make Texas Sheet Cake Cheesecake Cups…recipe will be up on the blog in a few days). Don’t want to make the cheesecake cups? Just chop it up and throw it on top of some vanilla ice cream and it will be fabulous.
  • Can you use a box cake? If you prefer to use a chocolate cake from a box you can do that. Though you not get the true Texas Sheet Cake flavor or texture.
  • Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is to be use. No half and half. There is no substitute for this.
  • Vanilla: I am a Rodelle vanilla girl through and through.
  • Unsweetened Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder: Again, I am a Rodelle baking cocoa girl through and through. You want a good baking cocoa powder since it’s used in both the cake
  • Marshmallow Creme: Marshmallow creme is different than marshmallow fluff. It contains cream of tartar and that makes it more suitable for making fudge. Cream of tartar helps prevent crystallizing.
    Can I just melt down marshmallows? No. Marshmallow creme does not have gelatin in it and that makes a big difference when making fudge.
  • Pecans: All my Texas Sheet Cakes I had growing up had pecans in the frosting. I put some in both the fudge and the frosting. If you do not like nuts you can omit them completely and still have yummy fudge. My pecans come from Sunnyland Farms in Georgia as they are my favorite.

General Keys to Successful Fudge:

  • Have a thermometer.
    I don’t like the old fashioned ones that you clip to the side. Those never work for me. I like digital and use this one.
  • Patience!!! This is hard for people. But you need to make sure your sugar fully dissolves in a slow manner. If you do it too quick the fudge will be grainy.
  • You also need patience when mixing. When you first start mixing the marshmallow creme into the fudge mixture it will want to separate and not come together. You have to keep stirring and stirring until it does come together…which it will.
  • Use Baker’s sugar. Also known as caster or superfine sugar. I don’t always follow my own rule because I don’t always have it on hand but it makes for a less gritty fudge.
  • Use good butter. Preferably European. The higher the butterfat content the better. Cheaper butter often has too much water in it and will cause your fudge to separate.
  • Same goes for your chocolate. The cheaper the chocolate the more likely it is to separate. If using chips I tend to use Guittard. And when making extra special fudge I use Callebaut chocolate.
  • P.S. It’s a great day to buy my cookbook Holy Sweet!

Want More Fudge Recipes?

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Fudge

Christmas Tree Cake Fudge

Oatmeal Cream Pie Fudge

Key Lime Pie Fudge

Strawberry Frosted Pop Tart Fudge

Texas Sheet Cake Fudge

Texas Sheet Cake Fudge

Yield: About 24 pieces of fudge

Ingredients

  • For the Mini Texas Sheet Cake:
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 heaping TBSP cocoa powder (I used Rodelle)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 1/2 TBSP buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (I used Rodelle)
  • For the Fudge:
  • 2 cups granulated sugar (preferably super fine sugar)
  • 4 oz. unsalted European butter
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 7-ounce jar marshmallow crème
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped up mini Texas Sheet Cake
  • 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
  • For the Icing:
  • 2 TBSP unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 TBSP heavy whipping cream
  • 1 TBSP cocoa powder
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Instructions

  1. For the Mini Texas Sheet Cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350F.
  3. Mix together flour, sugar and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl, set aside.
  4. In a small saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder, and water.
  5. Stir until the butter melts and mixture comes to a boil.
  6. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir to combine.
  7. Add in egg yolk, buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Stir to until fully combined.
  8. Pour mixture into a greased 9-x-7 inch (half sheet) or 8-x-8 inch baking pan. If you do the 8-x-8 you will get thicker cake. I baked mine in the 9-x-7-inch pan.
  9. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. If baking in the 8-x-8 inch pan you will need another minute or two in baking time.
  10. For the Fudge:
  11. Line an 9-x-9 inch pan (you can use 8-x-8 inch pan but will get thicker fudge) with parchment with an overhang so you can lift the fudge out later and coat with baking spray.
  12. Combine sugar,butter, and heavy cream into a large heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  13. Once boiling, use a candy thermometer (I prefer digital) and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and cook for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F (soft ball stage) , stirring constantly.
  14. Once you reach 234F remove from heat and add the chocolate chips, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
  15. Add the vanilla extract, and marshmallow crème and mix until well blended.
  16. Fold in the Texas Sheet Cake pieces and pecans and mix until you can see pieces of cake throughout all the fudge.
  17. Pour into prepared pan.
  18. Let cool to room temperature.
  19. For the Icing:
  20. In a small saucepan combine butter ,heavy cream, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar.
  21. Stir until butter melts and ingredients are combined. Do not allow it to boil.
  22. The icing will look thin...that's normal.
  23. Add in vanilla and mix until combined.
  24. Add in the pecans and stir to try and distribute the pecan pieces.
  25. Pour hot frosting over the top of the fudge.
  26. Let fudge set up for several hours covered in foil in a cooler area of your house.
  27. Then lift out of the pan and onto a cutting board.
  28. Cut into squares and serve. 
© Peabody

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