Simple Vanilla Sheet Cake (Printable)

Moist vanilla sheet cake with smooth buttercream and delicate piped flowers for festive occasions.

# Ingredient List:

→ For the Sheet Cake

01 - 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2.5 teaspoons baking powder
03 - 0.5 teaspoon salt
04 - 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
05 - 2 cups granulated sugar
06 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
07 - 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
08 - 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

→ For the Buttercream

09 - 1.5 cups unsalted butter, softened
10 - 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - 0.25 cup whole milk
12 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
13 - Food coloring as desired

# Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
03 - In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
05 - Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined without overmixing.
06 - Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
07 - Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
08 - Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
09 - Beat softened butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with milk, beating until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla extract.
10 - Divide buttercream into bowls and tint portions with food coloring for flowers and leaves.
11 - Spread a generous layer of plain buttercream over the cooled cake.
12 - Fill piping bags fitted with flower and leaf tips with colored buttercream. Pipe flowers and leaves decoratively across the cake, focusing on corners or along edges.
13 - Optionally, pipe a cross or add First Communion text using a small round piping tip.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The cake itself is foolproof once you understand the butter-and-sugar trick—it's impossibly moist and stays tender even days later.
  • Piping buttercream flowers sounds intimidating until you realize it's mostly just muscle memory and happy accidents.
  • This is the kind of dessert that makes people pause mid-conversation, and you get to be mysteriously humble about it.
02 -
  • Room temperature ingredients aren't just a suggestion—they're the difference between a cake that's tender and one that's grainy, between frosting that's fluffy and one that's broken and separated.
  • Overmixing the batter after you add the flour will activate the gluten and make your cake tough, so once everything is combined, stop immediately.
  • Gel food coloring is worth seeking out because liquid coloring will water down your buttercream and make it impossible to pipe clean flowers.
  • If your buttercream breaks or looks greasy, it's usually because the butter was too warm or the powdered sugar went in too quickly—try beating in a tablespoon of milk to bring it back together.
03 -
  • If your cake seems to be browning too quickly on top, lay a piece of aluminum foil over it loosely for the last 10 minutes of baking—you're protecting without trapping steam.
  • Keep your piping bags in tall glasses while you're filling them; it frees both your hands and prevents frosting from getting everywhere except where you want it.
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