Simple Vanilla Sheet Cake (Print Version)

Tender vanilla sheet cake with creamy buttercream and colorful piped flowers for celebratory occasions.

# What You'll Need:

→ Sheet Cake

01 - 2½ cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2½ teaspoons baking powder
03 - ½ 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

→ Buttercream

09 - 1½ cups unsalted butter, softened
10 - 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
11 - ¼ cup whole milk
12 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
13 - Food coloring in pink, yellow, green, or as desired

# How To:

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 butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with milk, beating until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla.
10 - Divide buttercream into bowls and tint portions with food coloring for flowers and leaves.
11 - Spread a generous layer of plain buttercream over 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 the edges.
13 - Optionally, pipe a cross or add First Communion text with a small round tip.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It's forgiving enough for a baker still learning piping, but impressive enough to make people think you've been doing this for years.
  • The vanilla is honest and elegant, never fighting for attention, which somehow makes it the perfect canvas for those delicate buttercream flowers.
  • You can bake it a day ahead, which means the morning-of chaos is spent decorating, not panicking over timing.
02 -
  • Room temperature ingredients are not a suggestion—they're what separate a dense, separated batter from something silky that bakes evenly.
  • Once you start folding in the flour, stop as soon as it's combined; overmixing develops gluten and toughens the cake.
  • Gel food coloring won't dilute your buttercream like liquid coloring does, and the hues stay vibrant even after a day of sitting.
03 -
  • If a piped flower doesn't look right, smooth it out gently with a small offset spatula and try again—buttercream is forgiving.
  • Keep your piping bag at a 45-degree angle and let the pressure do the work rather than fighting with it; your hand will thank you.
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