Sheet cakes are very nostalgic for me because they’re what I was raised on. Every year for my childhood birthdays, my mom would bake a single layer cake in a casserole dish, add canned frosting with a butter knife, and top it all with simple birthday candles. It was glorious! 

The sheet cake in this photo looks really similar, but it’s all homemade. I baked my Yellow Cake Recipe in a 9 x 13 casserole dish and frosted it with my Favorite Chocolate Buttercream. You don’t need a ton of cake tools or fancy techniques to make a sheet cake (I frosted this one with a spoon to get those swoops) but if you want to get creative with a non-traditional design, go crazy!

Making the Right Amount of Batter

To bake my layer cake recipes in a 9 x 13 dish or pan, you’ll want to fill it only halfway full. My cake recipes have a bit of rise to them, and filling the pan more full will result in either 1) a really tall single layer of cake or 2) an overflow disaster. Since I know ingredients are semi-scarce right now, I don’t want you to make a big batch of cake batter when you aren’t going to use it all. So here’s a list of my layer cake recipes that you can convert following the instructions below:

For cake recipes that yield four 6-inch cakes or three 8-inch cakes, like the ones listed below, you’ll need to half the recipe to make the right amount of batter: 

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
• Milk & Cookies Cake
• Funfetti Cake
• S’mores Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Buttercream
• Milk & Cereal Cake
• Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Coffee Cake with Vanilla-Espresso Buttercream
• Favorite Matcha Cake 
• Salted Caramel Apple Cake
• Almond Joy Cake (Coconut Almond Cake)

The cakes listed below can be made as-is, but fill the 9 x 13 pan no more than half full. OR, if you really want to do the math, you can make 2/3 of the cake portion of the recipe to make just the right amount: 

• Perfect Vanilla Cake 
• One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
• Yellow Cake 
• Chocolate Oreo Cake 
• Thin Mint Chocolate Cake
• Pretzel Nutella Cake
• Ruby Chocolate Cake
• Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake
• Pumpkin Cake 
• Churro Cake 
• Strawberry Lemonade Cake

Preparing the Sheet Cake Pan 

Once you’ve found the perfect recipe, you’ll need to prepare the pan you’re using for best results. You can use a 9 x 13 inch glass or ceramic casserole dish, or a metal pan of the same dimensions. I tend to use glass or ceramic dishes (especially love this one that came as part of a set from Crate & Barrel) just because I love the way they look right out of the oven, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

Either way, prepare the pan or dish by spraying the sides and bottom generously with cooking spray (I love Baker’s Joy for this). You can alternatively grease the pan generously with vegetable oil, or just grease the sides and place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom.

Baking the Sheet Cake 

Once you’ve filled your prepared pan or dish with cake batter (remember, no more than ½ full!) bake it at the oven temperature the recipe instructs. For my cake recipes, I always bake at 350ºF. Add 5 minutes to the baking time in the original recipe and check for doneness then by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. It’s done when the toothpick comes out clean.

If it seems to need more time, add an additional 3-5 minutes to the baking time and check again. 

Frosting and Decorating the Sheet Cake 

You can use any of my frosting recipes to decorate your sheet cake, and if the cake recipe you chose calls for a specific buttercream recipe, be sure to half that portion of the recipe to make just enough for your sheet cake. To create the look pictured, use a spoon or butter knife to swirl the frosting around on top of the cake, then add some sprinkles to tie it all together. Totally quick and failproof!

If you’d rather get more elaborate with your sheet cake decorating, feel free to use piping tips and creative cake decorating techniques to create what you’re imagining! This floral sheet cake tutorial shows how to create one of my favorite sheet cake looks: 

Make Ahead and Storage Tips

You can bake the sheet cake ahead of time and store it in its dish at room temperature, covered tightly with plastic wrap, a day or two ahead of frosting. Once it’s frosted, the buttercream will preserve the cake underneath and keep it moist. I still recommend covering it with plastic wrap while you’re storing it (especially after cutting into it) because the extra protection helps keep it fresh for 3-4 days. 

You can keep your cake in the refrigerator as an alternative to room temperature, but I only recommend that if your kitchen environment is warmer than 70ºF. If you do refrigerate your cake, be sure to bring it back to room temperature before serving it because cake tastes best at room temp!

I’m so excited to provide you with lots of fun cake recipes for you to try as sheet cakes! Let me know which ones you try in the comments section, and be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me how you decorated. I love to see what you’re caking. Stay safe and healthy out there, everyone! 

The post How to Convert My Layer Cake Recipes into Sheet Cakes appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

See? All that cake needed was a little revamp! Same sheet cake underneath, but a whole lot of pretty piping to make it eye-catching. All of these pretty buttercream florals were made possible with the Wilton Drop Flowers Tip Set + a few additional favorite tips (1M and 4B) I picked up at JOANN’s.

The best thing about baking a sheet cake is it’s easy. You don’t have to worry about leveling, filling, or stacking any layers. Just add some cake batter to your casserole dish and bake it up! The only real thing you need to worry about is giving the cake enough time to cool before you frost it.

The reason I love these Drop Flower piping tips is that they take care of all the hard work for you. They’re designed to create perfect florals in just a twist of the wrist, creating a beautiful floral look that anyone can achieve. Here’s a quick video to show you the technique before you read all about it below:

This design will work in just about any color palette imaginable, so pick your favorite color scheme and get ready to party!

You Will Need

• Your favorite casserole dish
• 1 box of cake mix
• 1.5 batches of vanilla buttercream
• Food Color Gels of your choice
• Bowls and spoons for color mixing
• Piping bags
• Wilton Drop Flowers Tip Set
• Wilton Tip 1M
• Wilton Tip 4B

Step 1: Bake The Cake

Whip up your favorite cake recipe or a box of cake mix, then pour it into your favorite (prepared) 9 x 13 casserole dish. I always like to spray the dish with Baker’s Joy to ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the dish after baking.

Once your sheet cake is baked to perfection, allow several hours for it to cool at room temperature before you start piping your florals.

Step 2: Color The Buttercream

With your favorite color scheme in mind, divide the vanilla buttercream into separate bowls for color mixing, then use your favorite color gels to tint it. I used the Wilton Color Right System to mix up five different colors for this project.

While any color gels will work for this part, the Wilton Color Right System is perfect for getting totally custom shades. It comes with a guide for color mixing, and you can use it to achieve any color imaginable!  

Step 3: Prepare Your Piping Bags

Snip off the end of each piping bag and insert the piping tips one by one. For this design, I prepared two piping bags with Wilton Tip 4B, two with Wilton Tip 1M, and four for each of the piping tips that come with the Wilton Drop Flowers Tip Set.

The Wilton Drop Flowers tip set comes with Tips 225, 129, 109, and 190. Each one makes a different floral design, effortlessly!

Step 4: Pipe The Floral Designs

With your cooled sheet cake in the casserole dish, first pipe rosettes using the piping bags fitted with Tip 1M. To pipe a rosette, face the piping tip downward and squeeze the piping bag to get the buttercream flowing, then while keeping continuous pressure, make a small swirl around the where you originally squeezed. There’s no rhyme or reason as to where to pipe the rosettes, so just follow your heart here.

Next, use the piping bags fitted with Tip 4B to pipe star designs wherever you’d like. These stars are quite simple, just face the piping tip downward, squeeze, and release as you lift up.

And finally, use the piping bags fitted with the Wilton Drop Flowers Tip Set to fill in all of the empty spaces. You can either pipe them with a squeeze or gently rotate your wrist as you’re piping to get cool swirled floral designs.

Isn’t this floral sheet cake a hit? It’s a nostalgic concept, made modern with some easy piping! The best part is, it’ll work in all sorts of color schemes and the look can be achieved in minutes. It’s the easiest way to make an eye-catching floral cake!

Be sure to visit your local JOANN store to find all the piping tips you need to create buttercream florals, plus tons of cake decorating tools and supplies, all in one shop. If you don’t live near a JOANN store, check out their website for an epic selection of cake decorating goodness! And whether you shop in store or online, be sure to download their app, because they always have a coupon for you to get the best cake and craft supplies at a discount.

Disclaimer: I was compensated by JOANN for my work of creating this project, styling, filming, photographing, and writing about their products. As always, all opinions are honest and my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support Sugar & Sparrow.

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