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This White Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting is easy to make, melts in your mouth, and is always a crowd pleaser!
This is a variation of our White Texas Sheet Cake, which has more of an almond extract flavor to it. However, if you’re more of a chocolate lover, you might even prefer our Sour Cream Chocolate Cake over this sheet cake!
Family Favorite Sheet Cake
Are you a fan of sheet cakes? I happen to love them. Let me clarify—I love them if they are homemade and covered in frosting that is made with butter, not shortening. Those bakery sheet cakes can be pretty horrible. But this white sheet cake with homemade chocolate frosting? It’s simply divine.
If you’ve ever had Texas Sheet Cake before, this recipe is similar. I grew up on the stuff, and it is fantastic. It made a regular appearance at birthdays at my house. This version has a buttery white cake instead of the traditional chocolate.
I add my favorite secret ingredient- almond extract. It adds such a yummy layer of flavor! I actually have a recipe for White Texas Sheet Cake that features almond, and it is fantastic as well! You can’t go wrong with this easy sheet cake recipe!
One of the best things about this cake is the frosting. You pour it over the cake while it’s still warm, so it melts down into all the nooks and crannies. So amazing! I always have kids begging to lick the bowl. 🙂
How to Make It
BATTER. Bring butter and water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. While mixture is boiling, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients and beat well. Whisk together baking soda, sour cream, eggs, and flavorings in a small bowl. Add to mixing bowl and beat till smooth.
BAKE. Pour into a well greased 10″x15″ sheet pan with sides. Bake at 375° for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
FROSTING. Bring butter, cocoa, salt, and milk to a boil in a small saucepan. It may appear curdled—that’s fine. While mixture is boiling, measure 3½ cups of the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Pour boiling chocolate mixture over powdered sugar. Beat till smooth and add vanilla. Add more powdered sugar if needed.
Pour over cake after it has cooled for about 5 minutes.
Variations, Serving, & Storing
Variations: I love white cake because it makes the perfect base for your topping of choice. You can easily top this white sheet cake with
- Your favorite sprinkles: the chocolate really makes the color in the sprinkles stand out.
- More chocolate! Mini chocolate chips, M&M’s, crushed oreos, fudge drizzle.
- Berries: strawberries and raspberries especially taste great with the white cake/chocolate frosting combo.
- A different frosting: cream cheese, strawberry, lemon are all yummy alternatives.
How many can this serve? One of the appealing aspects about sheet cake is that it can serve a lot of people making it a popular dessert to serve at weddings, birthdays, and potlucks. Depending on the size you want, you can easily get 24-30 pieces.
Cake usually STORES really well and this white sheet cake is no different. This means you can easily make it ahead of time to serve later or enjoy leftovers for several days.
- Room temperature: Cover and store at room temperature for about 4-5 days
- Freezer: cut the cake in thirds or in quarters to make it easier to wrap and store. Once cut, wrap each section with plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil. Label and freeze.The cake will last for at least 2 months in the freezer.
- If you want to store a frosted cake, you will need to flash freeze it first. Place the pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, you can then wrap each piece and freeze. Remove the plastic wrap before thawing.
For more sheet cakes, check out:
More Collections: Cakes That Feed A Crowd
White Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- dash salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3 1/2-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Bring butter and water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. While mixture is boiling, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour hot mixture over dry ingredients and beat well. Whisk together baking soda, sour cream, eggs, and flavorings in a small bowl. Add to mixing bowl and beat till smooth.
- Pour into a well greased 10″x15″ sheet pan with sides. Bake at 375° for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Frosting
- Bring butter, cocoa, salt, and milk to a boil in a small saucepan. It may appear curdled- that’s fine. While mixture is boiling, measure 3½ cups of the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Pour boiling chocolate mixture over powdered sugar. Beat till smooth and add vanilla. Add more powdered sugar if needed. Pour over cake after it has cooled for about 5 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
For more amazing recipes by her, go over and see her at Creations by Kara!
I just made this cake, and I must say it’s very delicious! So buttery good!
I love the frosting! But the cake was like rubber. I followed instructions to the letter. I’ve been baking 60 years so I do know how to read a recipe. This was such a disappointment, especially since I can’t figure out what the problem was.
Sorry to hear the cake didn’t turn out well for you! Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
Great recipe! It was easy and the cake was moist and delicious. I halved the recipe and used an 8” pan. I didn’t have almond extract so I just used vanilla. I made a regular chocolate buttercream frosting because I didn’t read the instructions. I can’t wait to try this recipe again with almond extract and the pour-over frosting.
Thanks for sharing what you did! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake. Yes, the pour over frosting is so yummy. And the almond is our fav. But vanilla is a great option too!
can you make in ina 9×13 pan
You can. This recipe will make more batter than you would want to put in the 9×13 though (it makes enough for a 10×15). So I’d recommend only filling the 9×13 pan 2/3 full and then you can just discard the extra batter.