Happy birthday to me! Today is the big day, the big 4.0.! Woo-hoo, as my mother told me that her mother told her, life begins at 40 and I’m on board with that! In honor of my birthday, I wanted to kick it old school and play homage to the sheet pan cakes of my youth, just a little more sophisticated (and all homemade, no boxes here). Kind of like me! This sheet pan cake is a moist, light and tender vanilla crumb with good ole’ fashioned American Buttercream. Topped off with more buttercream flowers and of course just a little gold dust, well because well, I’m just a little fancy!
Yes, I make my own birthday cake, I enjoy it and how else do you get exactly what you want! When we were kids, my mom would ask each of us what kind of cake we wanted for our birthday (Betty Crocker boxed cake). I will always and forever be a vanilla, vanilla girl. Simple, elegant and classic…again, kind of like me. My siblings had their own combos as well. But it was always made from the box in the old 9×13 pan with the store bought jug of frosting. Vanilla for me! Then for the decorations, it was those awful little sugar flowers and numbers that came stuck to the cardboard that you just plopped on the cake. I am not complaining, the cake always tasted delicious, but again, my mother wasn’t a baker, so this is what we got, and we loved it!
For my version of the ole’ sheet cake, I kicked it up a notch. No boxes or jugs of frosting, but simple, delicious, no frills, homemade vanilla cake with the simple ultra-sweet American buttercream. One bite and I am transported back to youth…minus almost cracking a tooth on the sugar candy decorations. I opted to pipe easy buttercream flower decorations. Delicious!
Soft, golden brown cake. No need to trim off the top to make it even, that’s the beauty of the sheet cake, it does not have to be perfect! Plus that dome is filled vanilla goodness!
More vanilla flavor in the frosting is just swirled on using a back of a spoon to get the effect. Again, easy-peasy.
Buttercream roses. I used a large closed star tip.
Large Russian icing tip to create these cute little flowers!
Light and tender crumb. I think I’ll have two pieces…back off it’s my birthday! 😉
As a kid for my birthday, I always wanted the piece with the most frosting and decorations!
Make a wish!
I think as women, we have to start celebrating our ages no matter the age. No more, “a lady never tells” B.S. or whispering our age with a cringed look on our faces. Have you ever heard a man say “a man never tells” or whisper his age under his breath? No. We have been indoctrinated to believe that we have an expiration date and any age past the age of 30 is an unmentionable. So ridiculous! We get so much better with age, wiser, know who we are, what we want and certainly what we don’t want and no more B.S. So, I say shout your age from the rooftops at any age. Like I said, it just gets better from here! Starting with my Vanilla Vanilla Old School Sheet Pan Cake! Celebrate with me and eat cake this weekend!
Happy Weekending and Birthdaying!
Diane
- Vanilla Cake:
- 2½ cups cake flour
- ¾ cup unsalted butter - room temp
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp. almond oil
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ⅓ cup mascarpone - room temp
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs room temp
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup whole milk room temp
- Vanilla American Buttercream:
- 3 ½ to 4 cups confectionaries sugar
- 4 sticks salted butter
- ½ + ¼ cup more if needed to balance sweetness, organic non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening (I use spectrum)
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 4-6 tbsps. heavy cream
- Plant based food coloring (optional for piping flowers)
- For the Cake:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8x8 square pans with non-stick spray and line with two pieces of parchment paper crosswise and set aside.
- In large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In the bowl of stand-mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the butter until smooth, around 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to cream until light and fluffy, another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mascarpone and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at time and mix after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and combine. Add the vegetable and almond oil and mix to incorporate. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix to just combine. Add the milk and incorporate. Add the rest of the dry and mixt to fully incorporate, scrapping down sides of bowl as needed. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake on center rack for 25 to 30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Pull from pans using the parchment paper ends to cool completely on rack. If only using one cake you can store second wrapped in plastic wrap and then tinfoil in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- For the Buttercream:
- In the bowl of clean stand-mixer with a paddle attachment cream the butter and shortening until smooth. Add a cup of confectionaries sugar and mix to combine. Add the second cup of sugar and combine. Next, add 3 tbsp. of cream and the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the third cup and mix to incorporate. At this point taste the buttercream and add up to half a cup to a cup more of sugar based on sweetness level. If too sweet add a ¼ cup of more shortening and mix to combine.
- Continue to add the cream until you get your desired consistency. Stiffer frosting will hold the decorations better, but I prefer a creamier texture, so I used all 6 tbsp. of cream.
- Separate some of the frosting in smaller bowls and add food color of choice for your decorations. Leaving most white to cover cake.
- Frost the Cooled Cake:
- Place cakes on serving board or cardboard cake board. Frost entire cake with a crumb coat of white frosting, add another smooth layer of frosting over crumb coat and swirl top and sides with the back of spoon to create swirls. Pipe flowers as desired over top of cakes. Store frosted cakes at room temp in air-tight container for up to 2 days, covered in the fridge for 3-5 or in the freezer in freezer safe pan or disposable pan, wrapped with plastic wrap for up to 2 months.
- Enjoy!
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