Sheet cakes may not be as fancy looking as layered cakes, angel food cakes or Bundt cakes, but they’re easy to prepare. Sheet cakes are commonly baked in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan, and the cake is cut into squares to serve. Never mind about baking layers, worrying whether cakes will come out of fancy pans intact or how to ice multiple layers.
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In "Layer Cakes and Sheet Cakes” (Harper Collins, 1996), author Lisa Yockelson writes that sheet cakes are "an adaptable, informal kind of cake that’s easy to bake and carry to an event; just transport the cake in the pan. In a graceful way, it serves a crowd with ease.”
Yockelson writes that the sheet cake is at its optimal flavor when eaten within six to eight hours of baking, although it’s fine to store iced or un-iced sheet cakes for a day or two; just leave the cake in the pan until it’s time to serve.
"Traveling cakes are easy to make, they appeal to children and grown-ups alike, and they use ingredients that even casual bakers have on hand,” she writes. "Their rough-and-ready nature makes it possible to transport them easily.”
With the tailgating season in full swing, fall festivals and Halloween parties beginning and family get-togethers and celebrations always in style, consider a sheet cake for toting to these and other events.
"If you’re looking for the perfect dish to take to a gathering, you can’t go wrong with an old-fashioned sheet cake,” says Linda Carman, baking authority with Martha White. "Sheet cakes are simpler to make than layer cakes, much easier to carry, and everyone will love to see you coming!”
Celebrate fall with a Caramel Apple Sheet Cake. With its chopped apples, cinnamon and pecans in the cake that’s topped with a caramel icing, it’s perfect for an October gathering. Sour Cream Chocolate Sheet Cake is moist and rich, perfect for tailgating or any occasion. The banana cake topped with cream cheese icing is a must for banana fans. We’ve also included recipes for a Church Supper Pumpkin Sheet Cake and Pineapple Sheet Cake.
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PREPARATION
Linda Carman of Martha White’s test kitchen offers these tips for baking sheet cakes:
Cheat sheet
→Sheet cakes are usually baked in 13x9x2-inch pans — aluminum, nonstick, disposable aluminum or glass. If using dark nonstick or glass baking dishes, be sure to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. The dark surfaces and glass absorb more heat, so the cakes cook quicker in them than in a shiny pan.
→Use an oven thermometer if necessary to ensure proper oven temperature when baking cakes.
→Measure all ingredients before beginning to combine ingredients.
→Chill cakes with cream icing, then cut with a thin knife to slice easier.
→Cakes with creamy icings can be frozen for three to four months.
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