For all the times you want a delicious vanilla cake but don’t want the commitment of decorating a full-on layer cake, this vanilla sheet cake is just the thing. It’s super moist and fluffy cake with the perfect vanilla flavor, topped with vanilla buttercream and rainbow sprinkles to make it extra celebratory! I also love how quick and easy it is to decorate. I grew up celebrating my birthdays with sheet cakes, and they’re such a great choice if you need a cake to feed a crowd.
Why You’ll Love this Vanilla Sheet Cake
There are so many reasons why I love this vanilla sheet cake (and you will too):
- Super Moist and Fluffy. This recipe actually uses my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe as a base, which I found to be the best for this sheet cake version. It has an extra fluffy texture due to the cake flour and a little extra sugar, and includes sour cream and just the right amount of whole milk to make it perfectly moist.
- Amazing Vanilla Flavor. I use a whole Tablespoon of vanilla in this recipe to create the ideal vanilla flavor!
- Simple to make. You can make this vanilla sheet cake with a hand mixer or stand mixer, and I’ve included detailed instructions on how to make it (timing included!). You’ll find the recipe to be simple and very similar to many of my other highly rated cake recipes.
- Fun to decorate. Sheet cakes are more forgiving than layer cakes when it comes to decorating, which makes the process fun! You can keep the design of your vanilla sheet cake simple like I did, or choose a more elaborate design if you want to challenge yourself.
- Easy to Transport. You can bake this sheet cake in a pretty baking dish, decorate it after it cools, then transport it in that same baking dish if you want! So simple.
Vanilla Sheet Cake Ingredients & Substitutions
After testing a few of my favorite vanilla cake variations as sheet cakes, the winning recipe actually starts with my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe. It is perfectly moist and fluffy, bakes up nice and flat on top, and has an amazing vanilla flavor. Here are some of the key ingredients, along with substitutions you can make if needed:
- Cake Flour. To achieve the super soft texture in this cake, cake flour is a must. It produces a much fluffier cake than all-purpose (or plain) flour because of its lower protein content (the more protein in your flour the stiffer the dough and less ability to maintain moisture). You can find cake flour at most grocery stores, but if all you’ve got is all-purpose flour in your pantry, here are instructions for how to make your own cake flour. Keep in mind that if you do use the homemade version, the gram measurement will weigh more (331g instead of 265g) since all-purpose flour is heavier than cake flour.
- Baking Soda + Baking Powder. The leavening agents used to create the perfect rise.
- Unsalted Butter. The main fat in this recipe, which adds lots of moisture, great structure, and rich flavor. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can substitute that but be sure to omit the salt in the recipe if you do.
- Granulated Sugar. This not only sweetens the cake, it creates a tender crumb as well. You can substitute this with caster sugar if you wish and it will be even more soft.
- Large Eggs. This recipe uses three large eggs, which add a great amount of moisture while providing structure and giving the cake rise.
- Sour Cream. Sour cream takes the moisture level of this cake to the next level and creates a richer flavor in the cake overall. If you don’t have it locally you can substitute it for plain yogurt or crème fraîche.
- Vanilla Extract. I use an entire tablespoon of vanilla extract in this cake, which takes the flavor beyond! I recommend using a quality vanilla extract here (not imitation). You can substitute the extract for vanilla bean paste if you wish.
- Whole Milk. Since it has the highest fat percentage of any milk (aside from buttermilk), the whole milk creates a rich crumb while binding the ingredients together. You can technically substitute this for another kind of milk, but whole milk is going to yield the best results.
How to Make a Vanilla Sheet Cake
If you’ve made any of my other vanilla cake recipes before, the process for this one is quite similar. Here’s how the process goes:
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF, then grease and line your baking dish.
Step 2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Step 3. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Step 4. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla before whipping everything on high speed for one minute.
Step 5. Add the dry ingredients all at once, mix on low speed until they begin to incorporate, then add in the whole milk in a steady stream while continuing to mix on low speed. Mix until the ingredients are well incorporated, about 15-30 seconds.
Step 6. Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Step 7. Let the cake cool to room temperature, then make the buttercream frosting.
Step 8. Decorate the cake. I kept the design here simple by frosting the cake with some rustic buttercream swirls, then piping a shell border with Wilton Tip 4B. I finished by garnishing the shell border with some rainbow sprinkles.
More Sheet Cake Recipes
If you’re looking for more sheet cake recipes, you can actually make any of my layer cake recipes as a sheet cake! But here are some of my favorites that are written as sheet cakes already:
- Funfetti Sheet Cake
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Berry Chantilly Sheet Cake
- Strawberry Sheet Cake
- Lemon Sheet Cake
- Spiced Apple Sheet Cake
- Pumpkin Sheet Cake
I hope you love this vanilla sheet cake recipe as much as I do and if you make it, be sure to let me know how it went in the comments section! Don’t forget to rate the recipe below + tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me a pic. I love to see what you create!
Vanilla Sheet Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Vanilla Sheet Cake
- 2 1/2 Cups (265g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 3/4 Cup (340g) granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- pinch of salt, or to taste
Garnish (Optional)
- 1/4 Cup rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
Make the Vanilla Sheet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163ºC). Prepare a 9×13 metal baking dish by spraying the sides with baking spray and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
- Sift the cake flour first, then measure it out by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer and large bowl), beat the butter on high speed for two minutes until creamy. Add the sugar and continue to beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about 10-15 seconds after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream and mix for one minute on high speed.
- Turn the mixer off and add the dry ingredients all at once. Mix on low speed until just combined, then add the milk in a steady stream and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs by hand to make sure there are no lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the baking dish until room temperature.
Make the Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer and large bowl), cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time and mix on low speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add the vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low speed for another minute, or until fully incorporated.
Assembly
- Once the vanilla sheet cake has cooled completely, frost with the vanilla buttercream. To create the look pictured, use half of the vanilla buttercream to frost the cake surface with rustic texture. Add the remaining vanilla buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B and pipe a shell border around the edges of the cake. Garnish with rainbow sprinkles.
Notes
- The vanilla sheet cake can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature.
- The vanilla buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency.
- The frosted sheet cake can be stored at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, for up to five days.
I made this cake yesterday. I messed up and added 3x the baking soda. Took longer to bake and it came out dense but everyone who ate it said it was amazing! Even my one kid who doesn’t like cake said it was the best I’ve made and she wants it for her next birthday. I also used my own “wing-it” frosting recipe with 3/4 butter and 1/4 cream cheese. My husband has already asked me to make it again soon. Will try less baking soda next time.
hi,
If I do not have cake flour can I use self-raising flour ? if so what will the measurements be?
Thank you.
Hi Sergio! I haven’t tried any of my cake recipes with self-raising flour so it will be an experiment! If you want to try it, I would omit the baking powder from the recipe and reduce the salt to about 1/4 tsp if your self-raising flour contains salt. Hope that helps!
The vanilla sheet cake was FANTASTIC: easy to make and oh-so-perfectly soft!! All of it was devoured, thank you very much!
Yay, Margot! That makes me so so happy!
Would this recipe work in a cake loaf tin eg. 25 x 11 cm (10 x 4 inch) loaf tin?
Hi Kris! I haven’t tried it in a loaf tin so I’m not sure how long to bake it. I would fill the tin no more than 2/3 full and start checking for doneness around the 35 minute mark. Hope that helps!
Hi- can this recipe be doubled?
Thanks
Hi Paula! Yes, you can double it as long as you have a large enough mixer. If you have a standard mixer I would make two separate batches.
Could i use almond extract with this ?
Hi Brandi! Yes, you can sub up to half of the vanilla with almond extract. Enjoy!
Once frosted, could this cake be stored in the refrigerator or is it better at room temperature?
Hi Katelyn! I personally like to store my sheet cakes at room temperature, in the pan and covered. You could store it in the refrigerator, just be sure to take it out about 2 hrs before serving so it’s nice and room temperature for eating.
Can it be adjusted for a 12×18 sheet cake easily?
Hi Jamie! I haven’t tried baking this as a 12×18 sheet cake but it should work if you double the recipe. Bake it at 325ºF and check for doneness around the 30 minute mark.
I made this recipe and for some reason it was sunken in the middle. I used a nonstick 9×13 pan. Could that be the reason?
Oh no, Karen! It shouldn’t be the nonstick pan. The most common reasons cakes sink are the leavening agents (baking powder/baking soda) are older than 6 months, the butter was too soft, or the oven door was opened prematurely. Do any of those sound like they could be the culprit? If not, I wrote a blog post of the most common reasons cakes sink: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/ hope that helps!
Looks delicious and I plan to make for 4th of July party. Why do you line the bottom of pan with parchment? I never line, especially for a cake I’ll serve from the pan. I’ll try it just using shortening and flour like always. Any reason not to?
Hi Sharon! I’m excited for you to make this cake! I instruct to line the pan with parchment for anyone who wants to transfer the cake out of the pan for serving. I just know how frustrating it is to have a large cake like this stick to the pan. If you’re serving it from the pan, you can skip lining and just grease the pan well.
Hi! I don’t have any sour cream in stock, will thick plain Greek yogurt work?
Hi Maddie! Yes, greek yogurt will work as a substitute for the sour cream in this recipe. Enjoy!
If you were going to cut this into two layers, I would need to double the recipe, correct?
Hi Molly! This cake bakes up to almost 2 inches, and I have been able to torte it into two layers in the past. If you want two taller layers, you’ll want to double the recipe and bake them separately so the pan doesn’t overflow. Hope that helps!
Can we bake in a Bundt cake pan?
Hi Mona! I haven’t made this recipe in a bundt pan but it’s similar to my chai bundt cake recipe so if you want to try it, use the instructions for baking time/oven temp from this recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/chai-bundt-cake-recipe/
How many cups of batter does this make? I’ll need to make adjustments first a 1/2 sheet pan, so I need to know what I’m starting with.
Thank you!
Hi there! This recipe makes 6 Cups of batter. Hope that helps!
This was ever bit as delicious and easy as promised.
My vanilla frosting keeps coming out with a yellow tinge. (Happens whenever I make vanilla frosting and is not specific to this recipe.)
Do you have any suggestions for getting a crisp white frosting like in your picture ?
Thank you!
Hi Edith! I’m so happy you loved this recipe 🙂 My best tips for white buttercream are to whip the butter for a solid 7 minutes at the beginning of the recipe until it’s almost white in color, then proceed with adding the powdered sugar and the rest of the ingredients. If you want it to be extra white you could add an icing whitener like AmeriColor Bright White (https://amzn.to/4m6xNFP) or a tiny drop of purple food color gel to neutralize the yellow. Hope that helps!
I used clear vanilla in my white buttercream. perfect white color. If the butter is more yellow, I use half shortening, half butter.
Hi, are there any adjustments you’d make to make this in 8×2 inch pans?
Hi Lauren! No adjustments needed for two 8-inch pans, I usually bake that size at 350ºF for 28-32 minutes. Enjoy!