Chocolate Baking Dessert

Natalie Paull's brown butter Texas sheet cake with sour cream fudge frosting

Name: Brown butter Texas sheet cake with sour cream fudge frosting recipe by Natalie Paull
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 130g pecans, roasted, roughly chopped (see notes); 2 tsp smoked salt flakes (see notes); 100g unsalted butter, plus extra butter, softened, to grease; 30g dark cocoa powder, plus extra, to dust; 60ml vegetable oil; 180g raw caster sugar; 2 large eggs, at room temperature; 170g biscuit, pastry and cake flour; 20g milk powder; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; ¼ tsp baking powder; ¼ tsp bicarb soda; 170g sour cream; 100g caster sugar; 100ml milk; 100g sour cream; 20g unsalted butter; 25g cocoa powder; 1 tsp vanilla-bean paste

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by Natalie Paull

CHEF

Apr 08, 2025

“This perfect fast (kinda) chocolate cake – light yet blanketed with a fudgy frosting that I like to sprinkle with smoked sea salt – is a tip of the cowboy hat to the cake’s origin. The cake stays in the pan for icing, so you don’t need to faff with layers or offset spatulas. Place this cake on the countertop with a knife close by and I bet ya it won’t last two days!” – Natalie Paull

You’ll need a 23cm x 33cm shallow cake pan and a sugar thermometer.

130g pecans, roasted, roughly chopped (see notes)
2 tsp smoked salt flakes (see notes)

Sheet cake

100g unsalted butter, plus extra butter, softened, to grease
30g dark cocoa powder, plus extra, to dust
¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
180g raw caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
170g biscuit, pastry and cake flour
1 tbs (20g) malted milk powder (optional)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarb soda
170g sour cream

Sour cream fudge glaze

100g caster sugar
100ml milk
100g sour cream
20g unsalted butter
¼ cup (25g) dark cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla-bean paste

Method

1.

For the sheet cake, cook butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, until foamy with brown speckles on the base. Use a spoon or spatula to scrape up and stir in these brown bits as the butter cooks. When brown, immediately pour into a wide bowl and cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2.

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced and grease a 23cm x 33cm shallow cake pan with the extra butter. Lightly dust base and sides with extra cocoa.
3.

Whisk burnt butter and oil in a large bowl until combined. Add raw caster sugar and whisk until combined. Add eggs and whisk until a loose, creamy paste. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl with 1/4 tsp fine salt, then sift over egg mixture. Whisk until a thick batter, then stir in sour cream until no streaks remain. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until bouncy and firm to touch.
4.

Meanwhile, for the fudge glaze, place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat, slowly and constantly whisking. Reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture reaches 103°C on a thermometer. The consistency will coat the back of a spoon and, when boiling, the edge will wrinkle. Glaze will seem like it’s stuck on 100°C for a few minutes, but then the temperature will quickly climb.
5.

As soon as the cake feels bouncy and cooked, remove from the oven, smooth glaze over the entire surface and return to the oven for 2 minutes, or until just bubbling at the edge. Remove cake from oven and scatter pecans and smoked salt over the top. Cool in pan for 30 minutes before cutting into slices.