White Texas Sheet Cake with Warm Almond Buttercream

White Texas Sheet Cake with Warm Almond Buttercream

As soon as I tasted this cake – I knew, I had to have the recipe, I had to share it on the blog – what the world needs now is this cake. One bite will start a chain reaction of all things good – hey, world peace starts with good cake ((I wish)). A cake this tasty is perfect for a celebration – how about and Independence Day celebration?

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A few months ago, I was at a potluck dinner at mom & dad’s church. I usually pass on dessert – because once I start trying of the deliciousness at the dessert  table, I find it hard not to sample everything. Regardless, one thing I simply cannot say no to is homemade white cake with homemade white icing.

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Some people are chocolate cake people, others are white cake people….I am a white cake person, haha! I whispered to mom, ‘do you know who made this?’ – she pointed to the lady who made this little piece of Heaven and said ‘go ask her for it, I am sure she will share it with you.’ I twisted mom’s arm, trying to convince her to acquire it for me. Why I have a problem asking people for recipes I don’t know… I imagine someone snapping ‘NO – it’s a secret family recipe & you are not family…’ and I just can’t rev myself up to hear that. 

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Well, even though I twisted mom’s arm, she would not budge. Then David started teasing me. Oh, they were having a grand old-time at my expense. Then mom popped up and went to talk to the lady who made the cake. I felt relieved. Then a strange thing happened, mom came back to our table and set down. ‘Okay, you can go ask her now – I told her you were coming over.’

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Now is where I go from relief to confusion. ‘Why would mom get up, walk over and talk – just to tell her I am coming to ask for her recipe?’ AND ‘now I look like a weirdo’. After a few minutes of mom’s persistence and my resistance, I walked up to the sweet church lady ((Cheryl)) and said ‘I just love your cake – I have never tasted anything so delicious – the almond extract just makes it perfect, could I please have your recipe?’. She looked at me and said ‘No, I just can’t – I don’t share my recipes…’ 

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I gulp & start to apologize (why I am sorry has nothing to do with her and everything to do with being sorry I let mom push me into asking for the recipe…) and  then she looks at me and dies laughing. Through the hahas she says – ‘your mom made me do it. I am sorry – I didn’t want to be mean, your mom made me say it ((interesting)), YES!! You can have the recipe!!’. It suddenly makes sense – Mom has tears coming out from laughing so hard. And that is the story of how I got this recipe and a list of neuroses I try to deny ownership of. 

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Nothing can distract from the deliciousness of this recipe. Possessing the recipe makes it all worth it! Here are a few tips I learned as I followed the recipe:

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  • The recipe is intended for a 15″x10″x1″ baking pan. I have a pan smaller and a pan larger, but not this size. If I went with the smaller pan – it would overflow & using the larger pan would cause it to be too thin. I fixed this by adding 1 cup flour, ½¼¾ t baking soda, Â¼ cup sour cream, 1 cup sugar & one egg. Those additions caused the batter to fit perfectly into a 17″x11″x1″ jelly pan or  a half sheet baking pan. 

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  • You may think that sour cream is optional. It is not. I learned the hard way. Actually, I forgot it – the first time. It tasted good but had a weird texture. So – don’t leave out the sour cream.

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  • One thing that makes this recipe unique is adding raining ingredients to water and butter that have melted on the stove. I add the sugar right away, stirring cooks it slightly. Then I combine all the dry ingredients and add the dry in thirds alternating and egg between each third.

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  • When adding the eggs, whisk as if you are in the last turn of an Olympic race and you’re ahead by a nose ((fast)). If you are too slow your eggs will scramble – and I am pretty sure that would make this cake NOT the best white cake ever….

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  • Now for the icing, it is also prepared on the stove top. If you increase the amount of batter, you will need to increase the amount of icing. Just add 1-2 extra T of milk and 1 c of powdered sugar. 

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  • One last tip, make sure you time the end of the cake baking pretty close to the end of icing making. I think the best timing is to pull the cake out, let it cool for 5 minutes & during that 5 minutes finish mixing up the icing. Once the icing is finished, pour it over the warm cake. This will help to spread out evenly and result in a smooth appearance. My timing was slightly off and the icing looked dry in a few places. 

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White Texas Sheet Cake with Warm Almond Buttercream - For 15"x11"x1" pan
Serves 20
The perfect white almond cake, dense & moist topped with the most delicious thick & creamy warm almond buttercream.
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
404 calories
58 g
58 g
19 g
3 g
10 g
108 g
197 g
47 g
1 g
8 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
108g
Servings
20
Amount Per Serving
Calories 404
Calories from Fat 167
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 19g
29%
Saturated Fat 10g
50%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 6g
Cholesterol 58mg
19%
Sodium 197mg
8%
Total Carbohydrates 58g
19%
Dietary Fiber 1g
3%
Sugars 47g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A
10%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
2%
Iron
2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Cake
  1. 1 c water
  2. 1 c butter ((2 sticks))
  3. 2 c sugar
  4. 2 eggs, beaten
  5. ½ c sour cream
  6. 2 t almond extract
  7. 2 c flour
  8. 1 t kosher salt
  9. 1 t baking soda
Icing
  1. ½ c butter
  2. ¼ c milk
  3. 4½ c confectioners sugar
  4. 1 t almond extract
  5. 1 c pecans (optional - I didn't use pecans)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. In a large saucepan, bring butter and water to a boil. Combine flour, salt & baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Remove the butter & water from the heat, add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, stir. Add a beaten egg, stir (quickly so the egg doesn't scramble) & and repeat this process until the flour and egg have been incorporated in the warm liquid and the batter is smooth. Add sour cream and almond extract, stirring to combine.
  2. Pour batter into a greased 15"x11"x1" jelly roll pan (I also lined it with parchment paper). Place in a preheated oven for 18 minutes until golden brown and the toothpick tests clean.
  3. Meanwhile, combine butter & milk in a medium saucepan & bring to a boil. Remove from heat & stir in confectioners sugar and almond extract. Continue to stir until smooth. Pour over cake that has cooled for about 5 minutes but is still pretty warm.
  4. Yields 16-20 servings.
beta
calories
404
fat
19g
protein
3g
carbs
58g
more
Food for a Year: https://foodforayear.com/
White Texas Sheet Cake with Warm Almond Buttercream - 17" x 11" x 2" pan
Serves 28
The slightly BIGGER version of the most perfect white almond cake, dense & moist topped with the most delicious thick & creamy warm almond buttercream.
Write a review
Print
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
421 calories
58 g
63 g
21 g
3 g
11 g
114 g
212 g
47 g
1 g
9 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
114g
Servings
28
Amount Per Serving
Calories 421
Calories from Fat 179
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 21g
32%
Saturated Fat 11g
53%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 7g
Cholesterol 63mg
21%
Sodium 212mg
9%
Total Carbohydrates 58g
19%
Dietary Fiber 1g
3%
Sugars 47g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A
11%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
3%
Iron
2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Cake
  1. 1½ c water
  2. 1½ c butter ((3 sticks))
  3. 3 c sugar
  4. 3 eggs, beaten
  5. ¾ c sour cream
  6. 2 t almond extract
  7. 3 c flour
  8. 1½ t kosher salt
  9. 1½ t baking soda
Icing
  1. ¾ c butter
  2. ½ c milk
  3. 6 c confectioners sugar
  4. 1½ t almond extract
  5. 1½ c pecans (optional - I didn't use pecans)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. In a large saucepan, bring butter and water to a boil. Combine flour, salt & baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Remove the butter & water from the heat, add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, stir. Add a beaten egg, stir (quickly so the egg doesn't scramble) & and repeat this process until the flour and egg have been incorporated in the warm liquid and the batter is smooth. Add sour cream and almond extract, stirring to combine.
  2. Pour batter into a greased 17"x11" jelly roll pan or half sheet baking pan (I also lined it with parchment paper). Place in a preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and the toothpick tests clean.
  3. Meanwhile, combine butter & milk in a medium saucepan & bring to a boil. Remove from heat & stir in confectioners sugar and almond extract. Continue to stir until smooth. Pour over cake that has cooled for about 5 minutes but is still pretty warm.
  4. Yields 28 servings.
beta
calories
421
fat
21g
protein
3g
carbs
58g
more
Food for a Year: https://foodforayear.com/
Mom said she was trying to help me overcome my ‘fear’. I am not sure it worked — we just have to wait & see. This cake was well worth enduring mom’s little prank – I count it as my prize! Oh – and guess who got the first ((well second – the first ended up in the garbage because I forgot sour cream)) cake I baked?? My momma.  I hope this goes into your recipe treasure chest…it certainly tastes good enough to be honored in such a way.