Basic White Sheet Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In a large saucepan, bring 1 cup butter and water to a boil. Remove from heat, and stir in flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, 1 teaspoon almond extract, salt, and baking soda until smooth. Pour batter into a greased 10x15-inch baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and tests done. Cool for 20 minutes.
• Combine 1/2 cup butter and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Mix in sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Stir in pecans. Spread frosting over warm cake.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-by-18-by-1-inch rimmed baking sheet, tapping out any excess flour; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
• In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture.
• Transfer batter to prepared baking sheet and smooth batter evenly with a spatula or back of a spoon. Transfer to oven and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Invert cake onto rack, then reinvert and let cool completely.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat an 18-by-13-inch sheet pan with nonstick baking spray. Line the bottom with parchment. Set aside.
• Beat the eggs, sugar, baking powder and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on high speed until the mixture is pale and very thick (enough to hold a wake from the whisk), about 10 minutes (see Cook's Note). Reduce the speed to medium-high and drizzle in the butter and vanilla until just combined, about 10 seconds. Reduce the speed to low and add the sifted flour all at once. Beat until just combined, about 5 seconds. Gently fold the batter once or twice using a rubber spatula, then scrape it into the prepared sheet pan. Spread it evenly using the spatula, using broad, gentle strokes to keep the batter airy.
• Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the top is lightly golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool in the sheet pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Steps:

• The fine moist crumb of this cake complements any type of filling and frosting -- the perfect celebratory cake.
• Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Combine egg whites, milk and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the milk mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.
• Variation:
• CLASSIC YELLOW CAKE Substitute 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk for all of the egg whites above.
• 2 (9-inch) diameter by 1 1/2-inch deep layer pans or 1 (13 by 9 by 2-inch) pan, buttered and bottoms lined with parchment or waxed paper.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease two 9-inch x 1 1/2 inch cake plans line bottoms with parchment paper grease bottom and flour entire pan.
• Prepare magic cake strips if using.
• In a medium bowl lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla, beat lightly with a fork to combine In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend.
• Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk.
• Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.
• Beat for 90 seconds at medium speed to develop cake structure.
• Stop mixer, scrape down the sides.
• Gradually add the egg/milk/vanilla mixture in 3 batches, beating 20 seconds after each addition.
• Stop mixer, scrape down the sides and give it a final mix by hand.
• Pour the batter in the prepared pans and smooth surface.
• (Pans will be half full.) Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in center.
• (The cakes should start to shrink from the sides of pans after taking them out of the oven.) Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a buttered rack.
• Reinvert cakes so that tops are right side up.
• Cool to room temperature and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 15x10x1-in. baking pan., In a large bowl, whisk the first 5 ingredients. In a small saucepan, combine butter and water; bring just to a boil. Stir into flour mixture. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and extract until blended; add to flour mixture, whisking constantly., Transfer to prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18-22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack 20 minutes. , For frosting, combine butter and milk in a large saucepan; bring just to a boil. Remove from heat; gradually stir in confectioners' sugar and extract. Stir in walnuts. Spread over warm cake.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 17-by-12-by-1-inch rimmed sheet pan. Line bottom with parchment, butter parchment, and dust pan with flour, tapping out any excess; set aside.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl, and set aside. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment until it is creamy. Add the sugar to the butter in a steady stream, and continue beating until the butter is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add dry ingredients alternately with the milk and vanilla in three additions, starting and finishing with the dry ingredients; be careful not to overmix. Set batter aside.
• In a medium metal bowl or clean bowl of an electric mixer, whisk egg whites just until stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter until combined. Fold in remaining whites in two batches. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center, about 30 minutes. Let pan cool 15 minutes on a wire rack before unmolding. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula or paring knife, and invert onto greased wire rack. To prevent the layer from splitting, invert again so that the top is up. Cool completely before assembling cake or wrapping airtight to freeze cake for later. While this layer cools, repeat steps with a second batch of ingredients for a second cake layer.
• To assemble, trim tops of each layer so they are flat. Place one layer of cake on serving platter. Set aside, covered, 1 cup of the icing for coloring. Spread top of cake layer with 1/4-inch layer of the icing, and cover with second cake layer. Frost cake, using remaining icing. Chill cake.
• Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir, using a plastic spatula, until melted. Remove bowl from heat, and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes, until no longer warm but still liquid. Roll a parchment triangle into a tight cone. Fill halfway with melted chocolate. Roll down the top of the cone like you are rolling a tube of toothpaste. Avoid overfilling, because it will be harder to pipe decorations. Remove cake from refrigerator; using sharp kitchen shears, cut a very small hole in tip of filled cone. Pipe desired decoration with chocolate; set aside for 10 minutes to set. Color remaining cup of icing, if desired; pipe designs on cake.