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This Vanilla Sheet Cake is a wonderfully moist and fluffy vanilla cake recipe that is easy to make! Itโs covered in a creamy vanilla buttercream and made in a 12ร18 inch pan, so itโs perfect for a crowd!
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Is it weird that Iโm already starting to think about what Iโll do for the boysโ first birthday? Yes, they are just over 6 months old, but they are already starting to show preferences for things and gravitating towards certain foods and toys, so themes are popping into my head.
If youโre like my mom, then you donโt understand the whole first birthday party thing and why people make a big deal out of it when the kids donโt even remember it. Well Iโve discovered as a new parent to twins that the real reason for a first birthday party is not for the kids โ itโs for the parents. When we make it to that one year mark, itโll not only be a celebration of a whole year with those sweet boys, but a celebration that we made it! These early months are precious, but boy are they hard too! Especially with two!
Seriously though, if thereโs one thing I should be good at as a mom, it should be cakes and birthday parties. Iโm thinking that parties with friends and such will feature my fair share of cakes, so Iโm getting ready with this Vanilla Sheet Cake. Itโs a classic birthday party cake! Pink frosting is optional, of course. ๐
One thing thatโs great about sheet cakes is the ease of making them. You know Iโm a lover of layer cakes, but when baking for a larger group or with only a little time to prepare, sheet cakes are handy to have.
How to make a Vanilla Sheet Cake
To get started with this vanilla sheet cake, youโll want to cream your butter, sugar and vegetable oil together until they are light in color and fluffy. Donโt skimp on the creaming โ it adds air to the batter that gives the final cake part of its fluffy texture. The butter adds great flavor and moisture to the cake, while the vegetable oil adds some additional moisture that sticks around for days.
The remaining ingredients are all staples โ eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, salt and milk. I chose to go with all purpose flour and regular milk, but I also tested this sheet cake with cake flour and buttermilk.
The hubs and I really preferred this cake with the all purpose flour, but cake flour was also delicious. The texture is completely different! The all purpose flour gave a looser crumb, while the cake flour was tighter and reminded me a little more of a โbakery-styleโ cake. Even though we had our preference, you really couldnโt go wrong with either.
As for the milk, I liked both but didnโt see enough difference using buttermilk to use that as the final ingredient. While I always have buttermilk powder handy and ready to use, most people donโt and for the purpose of keeping this sheet cake simple and approachable, I stuck with trusty, classic milk.
The frosting is a lovely, light vanilla buttercream. I added a little corn syrup to it, but you could substitute that with a little honey. The corn syrup helps keep it soft and smooth and perfect for topping a light cake! I finished it off with some fun sprinkles, because what birthday cake doesnโt have sprinkles?
This vanilla sheet cake was a BIG hit! It is so soft and moist with a tender crumb. The flavor is rich and buttery with great vanilla flavor. Everything just melts in your mouth. I shared a good bit of this cake with a friend and I dare say we took forks to it and left few crumbs behind. Itโs totally addicting and so delicious!
Watch How To Make It
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Vanilla Sheet Cake
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, plus cooling time
- Yield: 25-30 slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Vanilla Sheet Cake is a wonderfully moist and fluffy vanilla cake recipe that is easy to make! Itโs covered in a creamy vanilla buttercream and made in a 12ร18 inch pan, so itโs perfect for a crowd!
Ingredients
Vanilla Sheet Cake
- 2 1/4 cups (293g) all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups (310g) sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup shortening*
- 6 cups (690g) powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp corn syrup (or honey)
- 4โ6 tbsp water or milk
- Pink, Peach and Ivory gel icing color
- Sprinkles
Instructions
1. Prepare a 12ร18 inch sheet pan/jelly roll pan with non-stick baking spray. Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (176ยฐC).
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
3. Add the butter, sugar, and oil to and large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
4. Add the eggs two at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
5. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
6. Slowly add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
7. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
8. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool.
10. To make the frosting, beat the butter and shortening together until smooth.
11. Slowly add half of the powdered sugar and the salt and mix until smooth.
12. Add the vanilla extract, corn syrup and 4 tablespoons of water or milk and mix until smooth.
13. Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional water or milk, as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.
14. Color the frosting to your desired shade. I used a little bit of pink, peach and ivory gel icing colors.
15. Spread the frosting evenly onto the cooled cake and then top with sprinkles. Cover the cake well and store at room temperature. Cake is best when eaten within 3-4 days.
Notes
* I like to use some shortening with the butter for reasons you can read about in this vanilla buttercream post. Feel free to substitute it with additional butter, but keep in mind that you might want to refrigerate the cake and frosting.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 315
- Sugar: 30.7 g
- Sodium: 64.8 mg
- Fat: 17.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.7 g
- Protein: 2.8 g
- Cholesterol: 54.5 mg
Enjoy!
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Hello! Iโve been following you for a while and finally get to use a recipe for a birthday cake. I see above you said this may not stand up to carving. I want to do a simple shield design. (My twins are pretty heavy into Paw Patrol). Is this doable or should I still go for a denser cake? TIA.
I would think it would be fine for something like that. I hope you enjoy it!
Your baking time says 12-15 minutes?? That seems so short for this size cake.
Yes, though itโs big, itโs thin.
Wow! I just made this and it turned out great! I only eat kosher and I wanted to have this cake with a meat meal. I didnโt have any non-dairy milk, so I substituted the milk with creamer! It tastes delicious and is perfectly fluffy!
Awesome! Iโm glad you enjoyed it!
I was wondering if this would be good for carving out as a book cake and being able to support a 6 inch round cake placed on top as well as wilton castle towers.
I really donโt do any cake carving, but my impression is that people like to work with fairly dense cakes and I donโt know if I would say this cake is that. I feel like you can dowel any cake well and it should support another tier.
I selected this recipe solely because I could have it cooked, cooled (thank you freezer) and frosted in the amount of time I had โ 2 hours! This cake went from oven to freezer in order to get it to cool to frost. I started at 8 and was done by 10:08 frosted and a generous shake of sprinkles! The cake and the frosting were hit! For the frosting, I opted to replace the shortening with Coconut oil and use honey in place of corn syrup. This frosting is so delicious, I am making it again to slather on a chocolate cake. Thank you for a delicious (and relatively quick) recipe!
Awesome! Iโm so glad it was quick and easy for you and that you enjoyed it!
To clarify, if you want to bake this in a 9ร13 pan, would you need to alter the recipe amount or just the bake time? I would like to bake two 9 x 13 cakes and stack them with filling in the middle. Thanks!
You would just need to adjust the baking time.
How did it turn out in the 11ร15?
I made this cake on a whim tonight and it is SO delicious! So much vanilla flavour, a light, moist crumbโฆ I will definitely be making it again!
Iโm so glad you enjoyed it!
I doubled the recipe as my โsheet pansโ are hugeโฆ I found the cake to smell really eggy while baking โฆ (8 eggs seemed like a lot)
But it tasted okay. I donโt think Iโd make it exactly the same next time.
Does the powdered sugar need to be sifted?
I donโt usually sift it, but you could if your powdered sugar has been sitting a while and needs it.
How would I make this in a 9ร13 size? I need it to be 9ร13 and about 3/4 inch thick (because I am stacking 6 layers on top to make a rainbow cake)! Thanks in advance!
Iโm not sure about making that thick, specifically, but you could try cutting it in half and doing the 9ร13 pan and see how it does.
This cake in batter form tastes EXACTLY like the quintessential โcake batterโ flavor. It is so so good and also perfect as a cake!
Iโm so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this cake for my grand-nephew BD and everyone loved it. Do you have a recipe for a chocolate rather than vanilla?
Iโm so glad you enjoyed it! I donโt currently have a chocolate sheet cake, but this cake might work in the same size sheet pan.
Hi there, I made this delicious sheet cake tonight and I was impressed with the large flat cake! It didnโt dome in the middle or get too brown. Perfect for what I need!
Hi Lindsay l really like this recipe for vanilla Iโm doing cake for a grade 6 graduation one vanilla and one chocolate my pan is12x18/2 3/16 can I double the recipe or make two cakes I will be putting a filling in between l also need a chocolate recipe please I am making the cakes to Feed around 150 parents and students,teachers ect. Looking forward to hearing from you Cathy
How far in advance could I make this cake? Trying to time my baking between full time school and work.
I usually only make things a day ahead, but if you really had to you could stretch it to two.
I notice some wanted a deeper cake and considered altering amounts I would rather make two sandwich them with lemon curd warmed with a little peach juice then chilled till cooled enuf to spread easily then finish as in recipe or with a birthday topper on a icing for extra finish looks good tasted yummy or do one lemon one choc a sowerby
I thought the result was a bit bland โ if I were to make again, Iโd add more sugar and vanilla. I did really like the light texture, however.