I had the occasion to make yet another birthday cake recently. My specialty, chocolate cake, was notrequested. The birthday girl wanted a WHITE cake with WHITE frosting. I decided to try yet another new recipe – this time for a White Texas Sheet Cake. I’d tasted something called this back in my working-office days and thought it was moist and scrumptious. I should have known it wouldn’t be great as I had taken it from the same cookbook that had given me the Waldorf Astoria Frosting fiasco not too much before! Alas, while the cake and frosting looked nice, they were too sweet and dense to choke down much of, no matter how small the pieces were. I ended up throwing half of it out. I’ll give you the recipe so that you can compare with any you have and don’t suffer the same fate. DON’T MAKE THIS ONE!
White Texas Sheet Cake
1 c butter or margarine
1 c water
2 c flour
2 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c sour cream
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Frosting:
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/4 c milk
4 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 c chopped walnuts (optional – I didn’t use them)
In a large saucepan, bring butter and water to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 375°F for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and tests done. (I used a 9×13 pan and baked 35-40 minutes. Was this my downfall?) Cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile for frosting, combine butter and milk in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, add sugar and extract, mix well. (Optional – stir in walnuts.) Spread over warm cake.
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Funny line at the end of the recipe: “This cake gets better the longer it sits, best made a day ahead.” All of us had a piece of cake the night I made it and it seemed fine. The next day and almost two weeks later (when I tried hard to get someone – anyone – to take another piece), no one (even me) could swallow more than two bites at a sitting. It was dense and super sweet, even without the frosting. Definitely got WORSE with time.
