White Texas Sheet Cake

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Everyone thinks of chocolate cake when they think of a Texas sheet cake, but I decided to make a white version with white chocolate chips sprinkled on top. It’s a quick and easy white cake recipe and you don’t even need to use a blender. Whip it all together, which is my idea of the perfect cake.

Texas Sheet Cake is soft, tender, moist, fluffy and whatever you want in a white cake.

I don’t often bake sheet cakes because, honestly, I don’t need a lot of cake. But I had guests from out of town and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to make a big cake the size of Texas. My daughter said the cake got a 10 out of 10 and everyone loved it.

The icing is soft. I find that desserts from the south, that is Texas, are pretty sweet and this icing is no exception. If you have a mouth full of sweet teeth, you’re going to love the icing. That said, we also noticed that the level of sweetness in the icing softened after a few days.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I used lite)

Frosting:

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar*
• 1/4 cup milk (I used coconut milk)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 15 x 10 x 1″ baking dish very well with flour cooking spray or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add first 5 ingredients and whisk to combine; set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, combine butter and water and bring to a boil. Stir into flour mixture.
4. In a small bowl, add eggs, sour cream, almond extract and whisk well to blend. Stir into flour mixture.
5. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and bake for about 16-17 minutes, or until cooked and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (Note – the original recipe calls for baking for 18-22 minutes, but in my oven this would have been far too much and burned); always bake until done in your oven.
6. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack while you prepare the frosting.

Make the icing:

1. In a medium saucepan, add butter, milk and bring to a boil.
2. Turn off the heat and add the powdered sugar, almond extract and whisk well to incorporate until smooth.
3. Quickly turn the icing over the cake, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. Icing sets quickly.
4. Sprinkle evenly with white chocolate chips before serving.
5. Cake will keep tightly sealed at room temperature for up to 5 days. I am comfortable storing frozen desserts at room temperature. If not, store in the refrigerator, noting that the cake will be more likely to dry out.

Notes:

• The original recipe calls for 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. I used 3 1/2 cups based on the criticism left by people saying at 4 1/2 cups that the icing is both too sweet and too stiff and 3 1/2 cups was indeed a lot. If I had to redo this icing, I would add 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, taste the icing and check its consistency, and if necessary add another 1/2 cup for a total of 3 cups at the most.

Adapted from Taste of Home.