A Cake Recipe - For Real This Time

For those of you who were disappointed there wasn't a real cake recipe attached to my Best Cake EVER post yesterday, this one's for you.

Sorry about misleading you. (On second thought, I'm not too sorry. And you know it won't be the last time I write about this whole new grandparenting adventure. Jill is home for a couple of days, and we went shopping yesterday. We mostly window shopped, but I did discover there are lots of cute things for little girls and little boys. Smalls "needed" a sock monkey with a K-State t-shirt.)

But ... back to the cake. Jill used a Texas Sheet Cake recipe to make her checkerboard cake. To use the same batter for a checkerboard cake again, she said she would make 1.5 recipes. It's been a few years since her 4-H days, and she forgot that we did have to make additional batter to fill checkerboard cake pans. We used Betty Crocker's Silver White Cake recipe for her 4-H baking, but for checkerboard cakes, she always made 1.5 times the recipe.

The sour cream and the almond in this White Texas Sheet Cake make a moist, flavorful and all-around-yummy cake. It's a white version of that favorite chocolate sheet cake recipe everyone seems to have and love.

For eating at home, I love the White Texas sheet cake. For 4-H baking, I'd use the Silver Cake recipe.

True confessions: I didn't make the cake in the photo with my own two hands. My friend Debbie Minks did. I did, however, make the flower on top before serving it for a church baby shower. Enjoy!

White Texas Sheet Cake

Cake:
1 cup butter
1 cup water
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup pecans (opt. - We don't usually add the nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, combine the butter and water; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Stir in the flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, almond extract, salt and baking soda until smooth. Pour into a greased 11- by 15-inch jellyroll pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cake is golden brown and tests done.

Frosting: While the cake is baking, mix the butter and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add the powdered sugar, almond extract and nuts (if you desire). Frost while the cake is hot. (If you want the frosting to set up better, wait until it cools to frost.)

Makes 16 to 20 servings.

If you're making a two-layer cake, this recipe is the one we always use.

Two-Layer Cake Icing

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. almond extract

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Makes enough to frost a 2-layer cake.

If you're baking for the fair, change the measurements for the shortening and butter to:
3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter or margarine

All other ingredients stay the same.

Shortening holds up better in the heat of the fairgrounds.