How to Make Brown Butter Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake in a 9×13 Pan

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Y’all. We need to talk about this Brown Butter Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake. I swear it’s going to blow your mind!

Vanilla has a reputation. It’s nice, pretty, and delicate, but it’s also synonymous with “plain.” So, when you know Texas Sheet Cake as that melt-in-your-mouth, goosebumps-good chocolatey cake, why would you choose a vanilla recipe? It has to be really good, right?

This recipe is THAT good!

The Vanilla Needs a Boost

First things first, my chocolate Texas Sheet Cake had help from vanilla and espresso. So, it’s okay now for us to give our vanilla a boost, too. This time, we’re going to amp it up with brown butter and salt. The brown butter is the thing that takes vanilla from “meh” to Main Street, USA-in-Disneyworld-level decadence.

But why are we leaning on salt? Well, sometimes, vanilla cakes lean too hard on sugar. What you get is a tooth-aching sweet treat that you won’t take more than a bite of. Salt balances out the sugar, but it also enhances the flavors we built. Brown butter is suddenly mind-blowing, and vanilla becomes vibrant.

What if you really want to intensify the vanilla flavor? Vanilla extract is the ingredient we all have in the pantry, but if you don’t mind shelling a little extra out for a really great cake flavor, try vanilla bean or vanilla bean in a bottle. Keep in mind that these cost a little bit more. But you do get those gorgeous vanilla bean flecks in your cake and pure, intense vanilla flavor.

What to Add for Texture?

For texture, there are a few things you can do. If you want to add nuts, refer back to the chocolate recipe. All the same nutty notes apply here, too. But there are some other things you can do, too!

• Add toasted coconut! Toast that coconut until it’s golden brown and mix it in with your icing. It will add a very subtle coconut flavor, a hint of color, but most importantly a little texture.
• Mix in sprinkles. If you want to make this cake fun and festive, break out the nonpareils or jimmies! You can mix them into the batter or the icing or both. You could even just sprinkle them on while the icing is wet for a cleaner pop of color.
• Serve with Fruit. Vanilla Texas sheet cake tends to be sweeter than chocolate and benefits from tart fruit on the side. Add some fresh berries or citrus to bring color and balance to your serving plate.

For me, brown butter vanilla Texas sheet cake is a good recipe to have in your back pocket for special occasions or the random craving for birthday cake. While I love my chocolate cakes, this one has a special place in my heart.

Why You’ll Love Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake

The reason I love a Texas sheet cake is how quick they are to bake. It doesn’t really matter what flavor you’re going for, you’ll be able to complete the recipe before your baby wakes up from her afternoon nap.

But I love vanilla specifically because the batter itself comes together pretty quickly. You never want to spend too long mixing a batter, anyway. The risk is that your leavening agents will lose power or you’ll over-develop the glutens and end up with a tough cake. The main thing you’ll spend time on is melting the butter and preheating the oven.

Then, because the cake batter spreads out so thin, it doesn’t take long in the oven. As for the icing, since you put warm icing on a warm cake, you can make that while the cake is baking, and you don’t have to wait for it to cool to ice.

The Best Vanilla for this Texas Sheet Cake

Don’t forget if you want to get vanilla beans from Java Sisters’ Vanilla, you’ll be supporting an eco-friendly, woman-owned business committed to protecting the rainforests. You can click here to shop and use the code ELLEJAYATHOME10 for 10% off your order.

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Brown Butter Vanilla Texas Sheet Cake

Get ready for brown butter vanilla Texas sheet cake: a sweet, salty, fragrant, but still simple cake you can make in under an hour from start to finish.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 people

Equipment

• 9×13 pan or quarter sheet pan
• Small saucepan
• Medium mixing bowl

Ingredients

  

The Cake

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder

The Icing

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour your 9×13 pan to prep.
• In a small saucepan, brown ½ cup of butter to amber color, and then add the water. Remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature.
• In your mixing bowl, whisk together the flour sugar, baking powder, and salt. Create a well in the center.
• Beat the egg, vanilla, and sour cream together in the well, and then gently fold in the flour mix. Once mostly incorporated, whisk in the browned butter liquid.
• Pour the batter into the prepared 9×13 pan, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• When the cake has about 15 minutes left, brown the butter for the icing in the same pan as before. Remove from heat.
• In that same pan, whisk in the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, and thin with milk. Continue whisking until there are no lumps.
• Pour the warm icing over your cake right after it comes out of the oven. Cool completely before serving.

Keyword Brown Butter, Cake, Texas Sheet Cake, Vanilla

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