White Texas Sheet Cake: super moist, thin, & easy to make!
So awhile ago my sister posted a recipe for Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake which she loves to make because she prefers chocolate cake over vanilla. Me on the other hand, I prefer vanilla. I didn’t know a vanilla version of the Texas Sheet Cake existed until recently. As soon as I found out I put it on my list of things to try baking. Yes, I have a long list of things I want to bake, its a never ending list. Some recipes get bumped to the top of the list, this was one of those recipes.
I love this cake. It’s very similar to one of my other favorite cake recipes only this one is much easier to make.
I’d classify this cake as super moist, thin, & easy to make cake. It’s a great cake to make for parties. This recipe calls for a jelly roll pan that is 15″x 10″x 1″ which makes a nice thin cake. If you only want to make half a recipe you can use a 11″ x 8″ pan. I’ve done it before & it turns out just fine. Also you can use almond extract or vanilla extract (whichever you prefer) for this recipe.
- Cake:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter (I used salted)
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups All-Purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Frosting:
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter (I used salted)
- ¼ cup milk
- 4½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 15"x10"x1" baking pan.
- In a medium sized saucepan, bring butter and water to boil.
- In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Mix. Add in eggs, sour cream, almond extract (or vanilla), & baking soda. Slowly pour in the boiling butter/water mixture. Stir until smooth.
- Pour into greased baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown & toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake for 20 minutes.
- For Frosting: In a mixing bowl add powdered sugar & almond extract & set aside.
- In a medium sized saucepan, add ½ cup butter and ¼ cup milk. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and pour into bowl of powdered sugar/almond extract. Stir until smooth and combined. Spread over warm cake. (If frosting is too thick add a little extra milk)
adapted slightly from: allrecipes.com
This is the BEST cake ever!!!! My new favorite go to cake!!
Glad to hear you like it too! It’s one of my favorites too! :)
Do you sift the flour
Hi Tonya, No I don’t sift the flour for this recipe. Thanks.
Can this cake be made ahead and frozen? You know the busy holidays!
Hi Marsha, Yes you can freeze the cake ahead of time.
Beautiful, simple, concise recipe! Adding it to my core recipes in Paprika ASAP.
Thanks for giving the exact pan size and noting which butter to use!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe! It’s one of my favorites!
Could this be prepared in round cake pans?
Hi, I have never made it that way but I think it would work just fine, you might need to adjust the baking time though.
Can this cake be made ahead of time and then refrigerated?
Hi Rachel. Yes, you could make this cake then refrigerate it.
This cake is amazing (and dangerous)! I could not stop eating it!
Do you think it could be made into cupcakes?
Hi, I’m glad you liked it! I have never tried cupcakes but I’m sure it could be done, the baking time might need to be adjusted.
Just made it today, it was delicious, the icing is awesome!!! Going to make it afain real soon, thanks for sharing this great recipe :)
Patrice, I’m so glad you liked the recipe! This cake is one of my favorites!
Have the cake in the oven now. I am hoping I made it correctly as the batter was very thin. Is that right?
Hi Holly, I hope your cake turned out. The batter for this recipe is pretty thin & runny.
Yes it did. Thank you! Everyone enjoyed it!
Made this for a family dinner and it was a hit! Followed the instructions exactly and it turned out great! Thanks so much for sharing, I will be making this again!
Hi Julie! I’m glad the recipe was a hit! This is one of my favorite recipes!
Hi! How tall was the cake? I’m thinking about doubling the recipe and layering it to serve a lot of people.
Hi Aimee, The cake is short, I’d say it’s about 1.5″ tall. I’m not sure if this recipe would work good for layering, its a very moist cake so it might not stay together very well but I’ve never tried it. If you end up trying it let us know how it turns out. Thanks. :)
Hi, I know this was an old comment so hopefully someone will reply. =) I’m also thinking about baking two and then layering them. Did that work out for you Aimee?
Trying it for the first time right now,unfortunately I don’t have enough butter for the frosting so I’ll have to try it next time and I was so looking forward to it
Hi T.G. not sure how much butter you have but you could make half a batch of cake if you have enough. I’ve made half a batch before using an 8×11″ pan.
Almond or vanilla. Which is best?
Hi Pam, you can use both or one. Vanilla is my favorite. My sister likes to use both. It’s just a matter of preference.
Hi, can you leave this cake out or do you need to refrigerate the leftovers?
Hi Elizabeth, I leave it out when I make it but it would stay fresher longer in the refrigerator. Thanks!
This may be a silly question, but, why do you add baking soda to wet ingredients instead of incorporating into dry at the beginning?
Hi Kris, you can add the baking soda in with the flour if you want it really makes no difference that’s just how it’s listed. Your basically adding all the ingredients together like a one bowl cake recipe.
Just made it for my daughter’s birthday. Made #23 (her age) out of white chocolate chips to decorate the middle of the cake and sprinkled coconut around the edges. She loved it!
Hi Karen, I’m glad the recipe turned out for you. Great idea using the white chocolate chips to decorate it! Love that!
Absolutely incredible. I’m a chef (www.blackradish.us) and made it for a client and it was so good I had to turn around and make one for my fiancé and household! The only thing I did different was do a brown butter icing.
Brown butter icing sounds delicious! I’m glad you liked the recipe Heather! Thanks for commenting!
Hi! I’ve made the chocolate sheet cake and really enjoyed the crunch of the icing after it hardens a bit. Does this icing do the same thing??
Hi Lauren, The frosting doesn’t get that crunchy with this recipe, it does harden though.
Hi, I made this cake today. I added additional flour because I made a pound cake instead. I used Mexican vanilla in the cake. I also baked longer to accommodate for it being a pound cake. The cake is moist and spongy. The color is 2 tone (brown/white). Is this okay? My husband loves it………
Hi Renee, Making it into a pound cake sounds delicious! I’m not sure why it turned out 2 toned unless the vanilla made it darker. The frosting does turn out slightly whiter then the cake because the egg yolk makes the cake a little more yellowish in color.
Wow, this is a great cake. The only change I made was to zest a small lemon and add it to the frosting. Oh, and to make it a flag cake. Thank you for a great recipe!
Oh, and definitely used the almond flavoring.
Hi Jose, I’m glad you liked the cake! Love the addition you made with adding lemon zest! Great idea!
Can I use an 11×13 pan?
Hi Mary, Yes you can use an 11×13 pan for this recipe, it’s very close to the same size as a 15×10.
This is the strangest cake recipe I’ve ever seen! It worked in my 8×8, but I had to reduce the heat bc I was trying to make the cake a little thicker. It turned out great, but I’m still scratching my head at how odd the recipe is ? I topped mine with a thin layer of whipped ganache and then Italian meringue buttercream that I had leftover from a birthday cake made the day before.
Hi Stephanie, I’m glad the cake turned out great for you! Good to know you can bake it in an 8×8 pan size too.
How could I adapt this recipe for high altitude? I’m at 7000 ft and haven’t done any baking here yet.
Hi Julie, I have no experience with baking a high altitude but King Arthur Flour has a page with very useful information on how to bake at high altitude here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
It look’s like they recommend increasing the baking temperature & decreasing the baking time. They also suggest decreasing the sugar & increasing the amount of liquid & several other important changes.
Hi Katie :) I would like to use your recipe to bake my friends birthday cake. She’s obsessed with sprinkles. Can i add sprinkles/funfetti to the batter before baking? Thank you
Hi Indira, I think adding sprinkles to the batter would be fine. I add them to several of my recipes sometimes when I make them. I love sprinkles!
Worked out beautifully when I cut the recipe in half for my small family and baked in a Pyrex. I love that I had everything on hand already! Thank you!
Hi Rachel! I’m glad the recipe came out well. I make half a recipe often too.
What is the recipe for half? I don’t want to make a huge one as I don’t have that many people to serve it to this time. Thanks.
Hi Judy, To make half a recipe you would just divide each ingredient in half. So instead of 1 cup of butter you use 1/2 cup, and 1/2 cup water, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Thanks!
Can you double the ingredients for a taller cake?
Hi, I’m not sure I have not tried it. If you doubled the recipe you would need a pan with high edges & baking time would need to be increased.
I am wanting to make this for a large group. In your opinion would you double the recipe to fill a 15x21x15 pan?
Hi Lindsey, I’ve never heard of such a big pan, that size actually won’t even fit in my oven because its only 14″ deep because it has a convection fan in it. If I was doubling the recipe I would just make it in two 15x10x1″ pans. If you have that size pan & a big enough oven you could try it but you probably would need to adjust the baking time.
Hi gals luv the recipe .will definitely try it
Hi! Let us know how it turns out. :)
This cake was amazing! And that was before the icing . I had a hard time getting the icing the color and thickness shown in your picture . It was still good but the icing was more of a glaze .
Hi Stephanie, I’m glad you liked the cake! I’m not sure why the icing was more of a glaze, perhaps it needed a little more powered sugar.
What exactly does the sour cream do? Will it hurt if I dont have it?
Hi Kay, The sour cream is an important part of the recipe, it keeps the cake moist. If your not going to add it then you would need to add an alternative sour cream substitute like buttermilk, yogurt, etc.
My caking is baking right now. I’m not sure how there is going to be enough room to pour the icing on top since the pan is only 1″ tall???
Hi Jo, The icing is a very thin layer, it should be able to go over the cake, it hardens fairly quick.
I made this cake and it looks good! Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Julie, I hope you like it!
I found your blog when I was looking for a chocolate sheet cake like my mom used to make – that recipe was just perfect and I made it several times. My kids asked for something different today so I made the white Texas sheet cake. Both cakes were ahhhh-mazing. Thank you for sharing these wonderful recipes!
Hi Casie, Yay! So glad you liked the Texas Sheet Cake Recipes. Thanks so much for commenting!
We added some unsweetened coconut flakes to the top and it was even more amazing!
Hi Casie, love the idea of adding coconut flakes, thanks for sharing!
The cake turned out delicious! I will be making again. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Latonya, I’m glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for commenting!
This was so easy to make and tasted delicious! My husband ate four pieces before I put it away. I baked it in a glass 9×13 pan for forty minutes. So good!
Hi Angela, I’m so glad you liked the recipe! It’s one of my favorites. Thanks for commenting!
can this be baked in a 9×13 inch pan so that it is taller?
Hi Mary, Other’s have had success making it in a 9×13″ pan, I have never tried it myself. The baking time would be to increased though.
My cake is so watery ! Smells great but its already been in for 35 mins
Hi Alexia, What size pan did you use? If you used a 9×13″ pan to make the cake it will need to bake longer.
The cake was slightly higher in the middle and the frosting just ran off the edges of the pan. I left the to sit for awhile but immediately pour the frosting once it was made. Turned out to be a delicious mess. Any thoughts as to what I could do differently next time?
Hi Susan, I have heard of a few tricks to help prevent cakes from rising too much in the middle. They recommend being very careful to not over mix the batter & to gently tap the pan on the counter before baking to release any air bubbles that may be stuck. They also recommend baking at 325 instead of 350 if you have this issue with cakes rising too much in the center.
Your recipe sounds delicious! Would you happen to know how much of the recipe I would have to make for a half sheet cake pan (13″ x 18″)? Thanks!
Hi Olivia, I’m not sure what the recipe would be for a 13×18″ pan. I think you would need to make the full recipe plus add 1/3 of the recipe for that size pan. This recipe is for a 15×10″ pan. Thanks.
Hi! I know my reply is long overdue, sorry about that. I added about 1/4 more of the recipe and it worked out fine for a half sheet pan. Thanks for the awesome cake recipe!
Hi Olivia! I’m glad the recipe ended up working out! Thanks for the reply!
Hey I was just wondering how many cups does one batch yield?
Hello Brytti, I’m sorry I have never measured how much batter this recipe produces.
Does this cake freeze okay?
Hi Martha, I have never tried freezing it but I think it would be okay. Just remove from frig at least 1 hour prior to serving and have the lid off so it can thaw & not get soggy.
About how many cupcakes would this make?
Hi Casey, I think it makes about 20 cupcakes.
Hi! I love this cake..my friends makes it often. But my icing dried hard…am i boiling the butter and milk too long, or maybe the icing isn’t warm enough when i put it on the cake?
Hi Bryn, I don’t think you are doing anything wrong, when the icing dries it does dry hard.
This sounds delicious! What size pan do you use when halving the recipe?
Hi Dianne, I use an 8×11″ pan for half a recipe.
Thank you so much! Happy New Year!
Has anyone tried adding chopped or sliced almonds to the icing?
Incredibly good and DANGEROUS! Can’t stop cutting of small squares off and eating it like candy. Loved the Vanilla version of it. This is one of those cakes you’ll crave and just have to whip up because it so simple and delicious.
Hi Lynn, I’m so glad you liked the recipe. It does make a good snaking cake, I do the same thing! Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it!
Just made it last night. Couldn’t wait to wake up for another piece. Delicious
Hi Roger, I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.
Hi. Bad ass cake.. I was in Kansas now in Albuquerque nm.. how would u do this for high altitude. Thank you
Hi Michelle, I don’t have experience with high altitude baking but I found: Adjustment for 5000 feet:
Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.
Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 0 to 2 tablespoons.
Increase liquid: for each cup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons.
Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees F. Thanks!
Just realized I’m out of vanilla! How about lemon extract in place of the vanilla?
Hi Tracie, You can use almond or lemon extract if you have it. The lemon will add a stronger flavor I am sure.
I used mini muffin pan
Cooked at 325 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes
Came out GREAT!
Karen, So glad you liked the recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.
This cake was so dang delicious ! Easy peasy! I did the almond version for my sons birthday and his wife is making her recipe of the chocolate Texas sheet cake which we all love also. The only thing I did different was used canned evaporated milk in the frosting. It turned out yummy also. This was a hit! I will be adding this to my favorites. Thank you for sharing :)
Hi Debbie, I’m so glad you liked the cake recipe. Thanks for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it.