This high altitude white Texas sheet cake is a vanilla and almond flavored white cake baked in a half sheet pan, topped with butter pecan icing. This easy cake is large enough to feed a crowd, and stays moist for days.
You might also love this Denver chocolate sheet cake, yellow birthday sheet cake with chocolate fudge frosting, and strawberry sheet cake.
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What is a White Texas Sheet Cake?
Today’s recipe is the vanilla almond version of my Denver chocolate sheet cake. These types of sheet cakes are classic desserts in the mid-west and western states of the US. A white Texas sheet cake is a very thin cake with almond extract, no more than an inch high, that’s usually baked in a rimmed half sheet pan or baking sheet.
It’s a super moist and tender almond cake, thanks to the addition of sour cream and plenty of butter in the cake batter. The sweet, buttery icing is flavored with more vanilla and almond extract, as well as crunchy pecans. You can use walnuts instead of pecans, and I also added a handful of coconut.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. You won’t need a mixer or any special equipment to make this white sheet cake, and it comes together fast.
Feeds a Crowd. You’ll get 24 squares of cake from this recipe, so it’s ideal for parties, picnics and potlucks. I’ve lived in Colorado since I was 12 years old, and when I was in high school, this is the type of dessert that my friends’ moms would often make for our late night movie marathons and sleepovers on Friday nights. A piece of this cake is fantastic at room temperature, or served cold from the refrigerator.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Sour Cream. While a Denver chocolate sheet cake is made with buttermilk, a white Texas sheet cake uses sour cream for a moist texture and slightly tangy flavor.
- Almond Extract. Besides vanilla extract, almond extract will give this cake its characteristic almond flavor.
- Pecans and Coconut. The coconut is not traditional, but delicious. And the nutty pecans (or walnuts) add a wonderful crunch to balance the softness of the cake.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour a 13×18 rimmed baking sheet.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a saucepan, combine the butter and water. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil to melt the butter, then remove from the heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, almond extract and vanilla extract, until smooth.
- Add the hot butter/water mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients, and whisk just until combined. Add the egg/sour cream mixture and whisk until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and tilt the pan so the batter spreads out evenly to all four corners. Bake the cake for about 22-25 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire cooling rack, and immediately spread the icing over the hot cake.
Icing
- While the cake is baking, you can get the icing ready.
- In a saucepan, combine the butter, milk, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Over low heat, warm the mixture until the butter is melted. You can keep this on low heat for a few minutes until the cake is done baking.
- After taking the cake out of the oven, you can finish the icing by adding the powdered sugar to the butter/milk mixture and stirring until smooth and thick. Stir in the chopped pecans and the coconut.
- Immediately, pour the warm icing over the hot cake, and use an offset spatula to thinly spread the icing out to the edges.
- Let the cake cool completely before cutting into squares. To speed this up, you can let the cake cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Cut into 24 squares.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
For a smaller version of this cake that’s still thin, make half the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 pan.
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Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude White Texas Sheet Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 13×18 Rimmed Baking Sheet
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup full fat sour cream
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Icing
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes, optional
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour a 13×18 rimmed baking sheet.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a saucepan, combine the butter and water. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil to melt the butter, then remove from the heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, almond extract and vanilla extract, until smooth.
- Add the hot butter/water mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients, and whisk just until combined. Add the egg/sour cream mixture and whisk until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and tilt the pan so the batter spreads out evenly to all four corners. Bake the cake for about 22-25 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a wire cooling rack, and immediately spread the icing over the hot cake.
Icing
- While the cake is baking, you can get the icing ready.
- In a saucepan, combine the butter, milk, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Over low heat, warm the mixture until the butter is melted. You can keep this on low heat for a few minutes until the cake is done baking.
- After taking the cake out of the oven, you can finish the icing by adding the powdered sugar to the butter/milk mixture and stirring until smooth and thick. Stir in the chopped pecans and the coconut.
- Immediately, pour the warm icing over the hot cake, and use an offset spatula to thinly spread the icing out to the edges.
- Let the cake cool completely before cutting into squares. To speed this up, you can let the cake cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Cut into 24 squares.
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