I was wanting to bake a cake the other day, but I was not wanting a large cake. With there only being me in my house, a large cake would just get me into trouble, and I can do that well enough on my own without having a large cake around to help me!
Yes, I could send some to my neighbor, but I don't like doing that all the time because she always feels as if she had to give me something back, no matter how many times I tell her that she doesn't. So this time I really was looking for a smaller cake.
I have this cookery book entitled Sweet & Simple by Christina Lane. It is a dessert cookbook for two. There are over a hundred recipes in the book for smaller sized desserts. It is perfect for the smaller family or singleton.
This delicious vanilla and almond cake is the perfect example. It is not a thick cake as most other cakes are. It is a sheet cake and is baked in a quarter sheet pan. Of all my baking tins, I use my quarter sheet pan the most of all. It is the perfect sized sheet pan for a singleton or smaller family and it is the perfect sized pan to bake small cakes in like this one.
This is a wonderful cake. It is moist and deliciously buttery. Loaded with the beautiful flavors o vanilla and almond. The frosting is applied while the cake is right out of the oven for easy spreading and a bit of it does soak into the hot cake making it even more moist.
All in all this is a beautiful cake which I think you will enjoy. Even if you are not a smaller family, it is a cake that you can bake and not have hanging around for days on end. There will be no problem finishing this one! Enjoy!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE WHITE TEXAS SHEET CAKE (small batch)
Some pretty ordinary baking ingredients. There is nothing unusual here. You will need a quarter sheet pan with a lip or a 9 by 13-inch cake pan.
For the cake:
- 1 cup (140g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup(115g) butter, melted
- 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 7 TBS (100g) butter, melted
- 3 TBS milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 heaped cups (260g plus) icing sugar, or enough to make a thickish icing
- 1/2 cup (43g) flaked toasted almonds
This is a sweet cake for sure, but it has beautiful flavors. That is not a mistake. There are equal measurements when using cups for the flour and the sugar, although they do not weigh the same in grams.
I just use salted butter and cut back on the salt in the recipe. Not a problem.
Butter milk can easily be substituted in one of the two following ways if it is not something you have or can get:
1. Whisk together 1 TBS of lemon juice or white vinegar along with the amount of whole milk needed to bring it up to the measure required. Leave for five minutes to clabber.
2. Whisk together equal parts of full fat plain Greek yogurt and full fat milk to bring it up to the full measure of milk needed for the recipe. Leave for five minutes to clabber.
There is not really an exact measurement for the icing sugar for the frosting. You do not want a stiff mixture by any stretch, nor do you want it to be very loose. It should be spreadable.
You can toast the almonds on a baking sheet by sticking them into the oven with the cake as it is baking. It won't take too long so do keep an eye on them. Because your cake and your icing are warm, it is not necessary for the almonds to be completely cool when you scatter them over the top of your cake.
HOW TO MAKE WHITE TEXAS SHEET CAKE (small batch)
This is a fairly simple cake to make and is done rather quickly. It bakes in a flash. The icing is poured over top when the cake comes out of the oven. Altogether this is a really delicious cake!
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Spray a nonstick quarter sheet pan with some baking spray (9 by 13 inches.) Set aside.
Whisk the flour, soda, salt and sugar together in a medium sized bowl.
Whisk the butter, buttermilk, egg, and both extracts together in a beaker and add to the dry ingredients. Whisk well until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly,
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
While the cake is baking make the frosting. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add the vanilla and almond extracts along with the milk. Whisk in the icing sugar until smooth.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the icing over top of the cake and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
Leave to cool in the pan for at least half an hour before serving.
If you are a smaller family and don't want to be eating cake for days on end, perhaps you might also enjoy these other small batch cake recipes. I promise you they are also delicious!
7-UP SHEET CAKE (SMALL BATCH) - There is no leavening in this recipe. No baking powder, or soda. Instead, the cake relies on the carbonation of the soda drink to give it some rise. This also helps to keep the cake tender and moist. This is a delicious smaller sized cake for the smaller sized family.
SMALL BATCH GINGERBREAD CAKE WITH LEMON CREAM -This gingerbread cake is just enough so that you can enjoy it once as a dessert with something lush, like the lemon cream spooned over top, and then once as a teatime treat, served warm, split and buttered. I hope that I am not the only person who enjoys my gingerbread cake buttered!
Yield: 4 to 6 servingsAuthor: Marie Rayner
White Texas Sheet Cake
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 18 MinInactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 58 MinA smaller sized, moist and delicious almond flavored white sheet cake. Try not to eat more than one piece of this. It's impossible.Ingredients
For the cake:- 1 cup (140g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup(115g) butter, melted
- 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 7 TBS (100g) butter, melted
- 3 TBS milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 heaped cups (260g plus) icing sugar, or enough to make a thickish icing
- 1/2 cup (43g) flaked toasted almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Spray a nonstick quarter sheet pan with some baking spray (9 by 13 inches.) Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, soda, salt and sugar together in a medium sized bowl.
- Whisk the butter, buttermilk, egg, and both extracts together in a beaker and add to the dry ingredients. Whisk well until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly,
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking make the frosting. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Add the vanilla and almond extracts along with the milk. Whisk in the icing sugar until smooth.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the icing over top of the cake and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
- Leave to cool in the pan for at least half an hour before serving.
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