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Old Fashioned Vanilla Sheet Cake

An old-fashioned moist vanilla sheet cake with buttery icing like grandma used to make.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Americana Cake, Flag Cake, Old-Fashioned Vanilla Cake, Sheet Pan Vanilla Cake, Vanilla Tray Bake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author The Tiny Fairy

Ingredients

Cake Batter

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • cups self-rising flour, sifted
  • ½ cup whole milk buttermilk

Icing

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup whole milk buttermilk
  • cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons corn syrup prefer Karo brand
  • teaspoons vanilla extract
  • pinch kosher salt prefer Diamond brand

Optional Flag Decorations

  • blueberries
  • strawberries, hulled and halved

Instructions

  1. Pre heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9X13 baking tray.

Making the Batter

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine a soft stick of butter with a cup of granulated sugar. Add 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla and two large eggs. Beat together until creamy, about 2 minutes.

  2. Alternate adding self-rising flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with self-rising flour. Mix each addition just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

  3. Pour into prepared baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes, depending on your oven. Check the cake at 25 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the center. If the toothpick is clean, remove the cake from the oven. Cake will be golden and spring back like a sponge cake.

Making the Icing

  1. Clarify a stick of butter. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and stir constantly until the water evaporates and the milk solids begin to settle at the bottom. Pour into a Pyrex cup the clarified butter and discard the milk solids. Yield ½ cup.

  2. In a mixing bowl, combine ½ cup of clarified butter with ½ cup buttermilk. Add a cup of powdered sugar at a time and mix until combined. After two cups of powdered sugar, add 2 Tablespoons of corn syrup, 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract and a pinch of kosher salt. Continue mixing the powdered sugar until all 4½ cups have been combined. Beat on high for a minutes to break up any lumps and ensure a fluffy icing.

Assembly

  1. Spread about ⅓ of the icing over the warm cake. Use a spatula to spread it to the corners.

  2. Create "stars and stripes" with blueberries and strawberries.

  3. Pipe the remaining icing to finish the flag decor.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from Phyllis Stokes, southernfrugal.com - cooking videos on YouTube