Vanilla “Texas” Snacking Cake with Strawberry Glaze

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Now let’s get snackable.

Why, hello there! I am on a train (big surprise – if you know, you know) and I am lucky enough to be sitting next to my younger son. Always a treat to have a pal/child to travel with. We’re headed out of the city for the weekend which also makes the journey extra special (a good destination is half the battle, am I right?) to celebrate my husband/his father’s bday. It’s a big one and we’ll be eating pizza at our local and very casual “joint,” and I can’t wait for both the pizza and to see my dog and my cat. Matt ( the birthday boy) and I just got home from an epic trip to Ireland and England, and I have missed my fur babies dreadfully (yes, I am one of those peeps . . . ) and I cannot wait to see them.

Even though we just returned less than 48 hours ago as I write this, I have already interviewed three guests for the next quarter (Q3) of the baking podcast I host, She’s My Cherry Pie (in case you missed the memo). I mean technically, I think Cherry Bombe calls them “seasons,” but I think of the whole year of episodes as a season . . . call me crazy. I loved all three of these interviews so much (I mean, I guess I always do?) but I did have to prep them all while on vacation and I didn’t love that . . . anyway, the two guests who joined me in studio (as opposed to remotely) brought me a taste of the recipe we discussed, which is always such a treat (literally).

Alrighty, now I want to tell you about this month’s recipe. So, a few years ago I pitched the Washington Post a vanilla Texas sheet cake, instead of a traditional chocolate one, as a Texas sheet cake, what with its thin layer of cake that is topped - while warm - with a fudgy-textured glaze that is also warm, is my idea of a very good time. My vanilla version called for a strawberry glaze, because if you’re going to depart from the traditional chocolate on chocolate Texas situation, why not really depart?

The cake I developed for the Post was a large format one, as Texas sheet cakes are as big as Texas, as they say, and are assembled in a half-sheet pan (aka an 18x13-inch rimmed cookie sheet). And the glaze I developed got all its strawberry vibes not from actual fresh strawberries, but from the freeze-dried variety – which is a frosting, glaze, etc. game changer, if you ask me. I mean freeze dried berries provide so much intense, natural flavor without any of the moisture of fresh or frozen berries (which can sometimes wreak havoc on said toppings). To say I am a fan is an understatement.

But recently, I wondered if maybe what the world needed was not a humungous vanilla strawberry single layer cake, but a snacking cake version . . . and that is what I am sharing with you today. This cutie is baked in a 9x13 inch pan or quarter sheet pan (if you have the “cookie sheet” or “jelly roll” style of pan, use that) and assembled in a single bowl (and a small pot for the frosting – which is cooked, briefly, on the stovetop, when the cake is first pulled from the oven). But not only is the cake crazy easy to assemble, it is also crazy delicious. The intensely flavorful glaze is both tart and sweet and is just so delightful with the very vanilla-forward cake.

So, the recipe is below, but before you peruse it, I did want to shout out a couple of She’s My Cherry Pie episodes that have recently dropped.

This past week we re-aired my episode with Maya Camille Broussard, the owner of Justice of the Pies Bakery in Chicago and the author of the cookbook by the same name. Maya Camille has a fascinating story, which includes the fact that she experienced hearing loss as a kid, giving her a super power of sorts: an ultra-sensitive sense of taste and smell. We talk all about this, and how useful it is to a chef, as well as her salted caramel peach pie - which calls for canned peaches no less! Hope you’ll give it a listen - you can do so here.

I also chatted with Lisa Marie Donovan recently, the pastry chef, NYT Magazine contributor and author of the memoir Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger. Lisa is a brilliant writer and recipe developer and I loved chatting with her about her army-brat childhood, early pastry career and - of course - her strawberry layer cake. You can listen to our chat here. Also, fun fact: Cherry Bombe, who produces my baking podcast, moved their weekly email baking newsletter over to Substack! The letter is always full of info about the pod, and I highly recommend subscribing. You can do so here.

And now it’s . . . Vanilla Texas Snacking Cake with Strawberry Glaze time!

As mentioned, this is my riff on a Texas sheet cake, which is traditionally chocolate. A Texas sheet cake is a thin (chocolate) cake, assembled in a half-sheet pan, or cookie sheet and topped with a cooked chocolate glaze of confectioners sugar, butter, evaporated milk and cocoa powder. The warm glaze is poured over the just-baked cake, and as the glaze and cake cool, a fudgy layer is created between the cake and glaze. The glaze itself is almost chewy when cool and it cracks when you take a bite.

In this vanilla version, which is assembled in a 9×13-inch cookie sheet, or quarter sheet pan (although you can assemble it in a regular 9×13-inch pan, if that is all you have) I have topped the cake with a strawberry glaze made with freeze-dried strawberries – and when I tell you this combo is delicious, I know that of which I speak. The cake could not be easier to assemble and because the cake is frosted when still warm, the timing of the making of this cutie is pretty speedy. And if you’d like to watch me make this cake, you can so here.

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Sheet Cake:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
3/4 cups (150 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A generous ¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup (170 grams) buttermilk
1 teaspoons baking powder
A generous ¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

For the glaze:

2½ tablespoons evaporated milk, or regular whole milk
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups (180 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries, finely ground

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-in quarter-sheet pan, if you have it, or a regular 9×13-inch baking pan, if you do not, with cooking spray or softened butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Whisk together the butter, sugar and extracts in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is thick and glossy, but no longer greasy. Whisk in the egg and yolk, one at a time. Whisk in the buttermilk. Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda and salt over the bowl, one at a time, whisking after each. Gently fold in the flour just until the last streak disappears. The batter will be lumpy: don’t worry.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 12 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway point. Have ready the glaze-ingredients while the cake is baking, so that you are ready to make it as soon as the cake is out of the oven.

Place the milk, butter and salt in a small saucepan and set the vanilla and finely ground freeze-dried strawberries close by. Place the sugar in a large bowl. Once you remove the cake from the oven, set it on a cooling rack and place the saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the mixture just boils. Pour it over the sugar and whisk to combine. Whisk in the vanilla and ground freeze dried strawberries. Pour the warm frosting over the hot cake and spread it with an offset spatula. Allow to come to room temperature (you can speed this up by placing it in the freezer for 15 minutes) before slicing and serving.

Hope you make this cake for a picnic, or BBQ or just because you're craving something sweet and easy (and fruity!) See you next month!

P.S. Speaking of easy-peasy bakes…

❤️ Meet my new cookbook Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes

It’s filled with easy-peasy crackers, quick breads, hand-pies, brunch, lunch and dinner items and my viral magic melted pie dough.

Order on: Amazon | Oblong Books | Kitchen Arts & Letters | Bookshop

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