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White Texas Sheet Cake

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White Texas Sheet Cake is made in a saucepan just like chocolate Texas sheet cake, but it is flavored with vanilla and almond making it taste more like wedding cake. It is perfect for parties, potlucks, BBQs and more.

Slices of vanilla Texas sheet cake topped with vanilla icing and sprinkles stacked on top of each other showing buttery cake texture.

Make homemade vanilla cake topped with smooth white icing in the simplest possible way. This cake is made like the chocolate Texas sheet cake, all in saucepans, but there’s no chocolate in site.

Take a 13x18x1″ half sheet pan and get to work. This recipe makes enough buttery vanilla cake to feed a crowd with very little effort.

Ingredients including butter, sugar, water, sour cream, flour, eggs, vanilla, almond extract, baking soda and salt ready to be made into cake batter.

The fact that is ready to eat in an hour or two is pretty amazing for a homemade cake. Plus you don’t have to worry about remembering to soften the butter ahead of time.

It will melt when you cook it with the water. There’s no creaming, no mixers, no fuss.

MiMi originally shared this recipe with us in 2015. She had been on a Texas sheet cake baking bender, making all sorts of different flavors.

She asked Pops to choose a flavor for Father’s day and he chose vanilla cake with vanilla icing. Wedding cake or the mix of white cake and white frosting is always one of his favorites.

Most cake recipes require softened butter and room temperature ingredients.  MiMi doesn’t always plan ahead when making cake so she really likes that Texas sheet cakes start by melting the butter in a saucepan.

It also cuts out the steps of creaming the butter and any other bits that she finds fiddly. She likes recipes as simple as possible and this one fits the bill.

Most of the ingredients are pantry staples. The icing is cooked also and it spreads out to form a nice smooth layer without much effort, another thing she loves.

No worrying about crumbs surfacing as you ice the cake. A few sprinkles are all you need to make the cake look finished, no decorating skills required.

We used the recipe for White Texas sheet cake from Kitty’s Kozy Kitchen as a starting point. After reviewing several recipes, I realized that most of them follow this same recipe.

We like using a mix of almond extract and vanilla extract to give it that wedding cake flavor, so we did alter the recipe for that. Plus we bake it in a 13×8-inch jelly roll pan, because that is a size that most people seem to have.

If you like chocolate frosting on your birthday cake, feel free to use the icing recipe from the chocolate sheet cake. The mix of vanilla cake and chocolate icing is always a hit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I omit the almond extract in this white Texas sheet cake?

Yes. If you want your cake to be a fully vanilla Texas sheet cake, you can leave out the almond extract. I would replace it with additional vanilla extract to give it plenty of vanilla extract.

Can I bake this cake in a 10×15-inch pan?

Yes. We have baked this cake in a 10×15″ pan several times. It gives you a thicker cake layer, which is nice.

Though we have heard from some people that it fills their pan so it is hard to ice the cake. We use a USA Pan cake pan and have had luck with that particular pan.

Lifting a slice of moist vanilla Texas sheet cake out of the pan showing soft crumb and smooth white icing.

How do you store vanilla Texas sheet cake?

Texas sheet cake can be stored loosely covered at room temperature for 3-4 days. If you have a half sheet pan lid, that works great

Otherwise, loosely cover the cake with plastic wrap or foil to the keep the exposed cake from drying out.

For longer storage, you can freeze the cake for up to three months. Either wrap the entire cake in plastic wrap and foil to freeze, or place individual slices in airtight containers to freeze.

Allow frozen cake to defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours and then enjoy.

A few more of our favorite cake recipes:

Di’s Banana Cake is so easy to make and moist as can be! The directions will surprise you, you’ll just have to make it to believe it! 

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake has everything you love about a sheet cake but with rich peanut butter flavor. Top it with icing or make a fluffy buttercream for an extra special treat.

Stacked pieces of white Texas sheet cake with vanilla icing and sprinkles on top.

Great-Great-Grandma’s Dutch Apple Cake has been in my family for generations.  It is a simple cake topped with apples and plenty of golden topping.  It is great as a coffee cake at breakfast, for an afternoon treat or as a simple dessert.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a review in the recipe card below!

Slices of vanilla Texas sheet cake topped with vanilla icing and sprinkles stacked on top of each other showing buttery cake texture.

Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake

Carlee
Make homemade white cake and white frosting in the simplest possible way! This cake is made like the chocolate Texas sheet cake, all in saucepans, but there’s no chocolate in site.
4.93 from 13 ratings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 37 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24 Servings
Calories 303 kcal

Ingredients
 

Cake

  • 1 cup salted butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Icing

  • ½ cup salted butter
  • cup milk
  • cups powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Makes: 13 x 18inch rectangle1inch height

Instructions
 

Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a 13x18x1-inch half sheet or jelly roll pan
  • Bring butter and water to a boil in a large saucepan.
    1 cup salted butter, 1 cup water
  • Remove from heat and stir sugar until it's dissolved.
    2 cups granulated sugar
  • Add remaining ingredients and stir until a uniform batter is formed.
    2 cups all purpose flour, 2 large eggs, ½ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
  • Pour into prepared pan and bake for 18-22 minutes.
  • Cool for about 10 minutes.

Icing

  • While cake is cooling, bring butter and milk to a simmer in a large saucepan.
    ½ cup salted butter, ⅓ cup milk
  • When the butter is melted and the mixture starts to bubble, remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
    4½ cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Spread warm frosting over warm cake and let cool completely before serving.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1ServingCalories: 303kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 2gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 242mgSugar: 37g
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Recipe Rating




Jackie

Saturday 30th of April 2022

Self rising or plain flour?

Carlee

Saturday 30th of April 2022

Plain all purpose flour.

Jenny Beecher

Friday 31st of July 2020

Can't wait to try this! Have you tried milk instead of water? Or would that cause it to bake up weird? Thanks!!!

Carlee

Saturday 1st of August 2020

I haven't tried it, but I could see it working. I wouldn't bring it to a hard boil though, just warm it enough to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar.

Kim

Wednesday 15th of January 2020

I made this cake for a boy scout banquet today. I doubled it and put it in a giant cookie sheet. I did use evaporated milk in the icing for richness. It was so delicious! Your recipe got many compliments. Thank you for posting this. I know that it will become a family recipe now.

Carlee

Saturday 1st of August 2020

YAY! I am so glad you liked it!

Family Around the Table

Sunday 4th of November 2018

Pass me a slice please!

Anonymous

Wednesday 8th of August 2018

This looks TOO delicious! I love any kind of sheet cake and this looks fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing at the Whimsical Wednesdays Link Party!!

Carlee

Monday 13th of August 2018

We are big sheet cake fans too! Thanks!