Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing

This fabulous Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing comes together super quickly with just one bowl, a whisk, no mixer needed. The beautiful pink-hued icing is bursting with fresh strawberry flavor!

This Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing is one of those cakes that will have people begging for the recipe after the first delicious bite!

The cake is super moist with a tender crumb and is infused with lots of delicious, tiny vanilla beans.

The icing is creamy, smooth and the fresh strawberry flavor explodes with every bite. It's truly a heavenly flavor combination!

An old friend with new clothes

After the photo shoot for this Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing, I dropped off most of the cake at our daughter, Cait's house. I knew it would be extremely dangerous to keep it and, with four always-hungry kids, I knew it would be in good, appreciative hands. Shortly afterward, Cait texted me and said, "Holy moly, what cake recipe is that?!" I replied, "It's the white Texas sheet cake recipe, the same one I use for the Caramel Cake." She texted back, "Dang, that's the recipe that keeps giving!"

Keeps giving fabulous results is what she meant. I've used this same recipe so many times that I lost count long ago. It's a fun recipe to adapt as it can take on lots of delicious personalities, like this Funfetti Sheet Cake and this Lemon Poppyseed Cake. I like to think of the recipe as a super flexible, never fail, forever fabulous old friend that's always ready for a make-over!

A little trick to achieve lots of strawberry flavor

If you've ever made a strawberry frosting with fresh strawberries you've probably discovered that it's difficult to get much strawberry flavor. By the time you add 2-3 strawberries, there's so much liquid that the consistency gets super runny. And 2-3 strawberries are not going to give much flavor when combined with several cups of powdered sugar.

I discovered a great little secret while developing the recipe for this Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing. I diced a bunch of strawberries, added a scoop of sugar (to draw out the juices) then microwaved the mixture until it was reduced. I then strained out the solids, resulting in a strawberry syrup. Another stint in the microwave and I was down to right around a quarter cup of intensely strawberry-flavored syrup.

I combined the syrup with powdered sugar, vanilla and softened butter... voila! A fabulous fresh strawberry icing that's bursting with LOTS of strawberry flavor!

What kind of pan to use for this Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing

There are actually two answers to this question. You can use a regular half sheet pan which is 18x13 inches OR a jelly roll pan which is a little smaller, measuring 15x10 inches. The sheet pan will yield a larger but thinner cake and icing, and the jelly roll pan, a thicker cake with a thicker icing. My preference? I really like making sheet cakes like this in the smaller, jelly roll pan as the cake comes out a little thicker, but either will work.

Easy peasy

Other than making the strawberry syrup (which is mostly hands-off time) is there is minimal labor involved with both the cake and the icing. No electric mixer is required - if  you have a bowl and a whisk, you can stir up this Fresh Strawberry Cake in less than 20 minutes and have it rolling out of the oven in another 20 minutes

Don't let the strawberry season pass without making this DELICIOUS cake! You'll be dreaming about it all year long!

Café Tips for making this Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing

• You'll need a microwave-safe bowl for this recipe that will hold at least 8 cups. What is a microwave-safe bowl?
  • Microwave-safe bowls and containers are specifically designed to be used in the microwave. The container itself does not get hot when heated. You can tell if a bowl (or another item) is microwave-safe by checking the bottom. There should be a small symbol of a microwave with some wavy lines on it.

• This recipe calls for vanilla bean paste. What is it? Vanilla bean paste is a convenient combination of vanilla extract and natural vanilla bean seeds in a syrupy, paste. It comes in a jar and adds extra vanilla flavor and the pretty little vanilla beans to cakes, cookies, etc. No vanilla bean paste? No problem! Just add an equal amount of pure vanilla extract or scrape the seeds from one vanilla bean pod.
• I love these microwave-safe Pyrex measuring cups with handles that stay cool. They come in different sizes, are dishwasher safe and are little kitchen workhorses for me. I use the 8-cup size to make both the cake and the icing for this Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake recipe. Any of these would make a wonderful, long-lasting gift for someone who likes to cook or would like to learn to cook. (Haha, I just talked myself into ordering another one!)
• The easiest and best way to mix up this cake is with a whisk. Every kitchen needs a good whisk. A whisk makes the task of stirring a nice smooth batter (without a mixer) a breeze. Good whisks aren’t expensive and will last a lifetime. This is a really nice set of simple whisks.
• You'll need a fine-mesh strainer for this icing recipe. A fine-mesh strainer is a metal strainer with a small weave that allows liquids to pass through but not solids. A fine-mesh strainer is a super useful, economical kitchen tool. This is a great set.
• This recipe calls for buttermilk. If you don't want to purchase buttermilk, just for this recipe, you could sub an equal amount of yogurt or sour cream.
• You can also make your own buttermilk. Just add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to a measuring cup and fill the cup to the one-half mark with milk. Stir well, then wait 5 minutes and stir again. Use this in place of the buttermilk.
• I use salted butter to make this Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing. If you only have unsalted butter, add an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt.
• As mentioned above, you can use a standard half sheet pan for this recipe OR a jelly roll pan. I really prefer using a jelly roll pan as it yields a thicker cake and thicker icing.
• This recipe makes a fairly thick icing. If you prefer a less sweet cake with a thinner icing, cut the recipe in half or three quarters.
• I like to make this cake when fresh local berries are in season for the best flavor. If you find really pretty strawberries during the off-season, they will also work.
• Please take note that every microwave is a little different and there are different wattages. This means that the times for cooking the icing in the microwave are approximate. Your microwave may be a little quicker or a little slower. The desired end result is a quarter cup of strawberry syrup.

Thought for the day:

What we're listening to for inspiration:

Come Lord Jesus, Come

If you enjoy this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.

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Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing

This fabulous Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing comes together super quickly with just one bowl, a whisk, no mixer needed. The beautiful pink-hued icing is bursting with fresh strawberry flavor!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Fresh Strawberry Icing, Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 50 mins

Servings: 20 servings

Calories: 359 kcal

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 cup butter cubed
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• ⅛ teaspoon almond extract optional (but delicious!)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

For the strawberry syrup:

• 1 ½ cups diced fresh strawberries fairly packed
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the fresh strawberry icing:

• ¼ cup fresh strawberry syrup (directions above)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup very soft butter
• half & half or milk if needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Spray a 10x15 jelly roll pan or an 18x13 sheet pan generously with baking spray and rub with a paper towel to coat all surfaces. Set aside.

2. In a medium-large microwave-safe bowl, combine the cubed butter and water. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Most of the butter should be melted. Remove from the microwave and stir until butter is completely melted.

3. Add the sugar and buttermilk and whisk until well combined then add the eggs and whisk again. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk until well combined and no baking powder lumps remain.

4. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. It will seem lumpy at first but keep stirring. It will get nice and smooth. A whisk works great for this.

5. Transfer to the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes while you make the icing.

For the strawberry syrup:

1. While the cake is baking, make the strawberry syrup by combining the strawberries and granulated sugar in a large microwave-safe bowl (at least 8 cup capacity as the strawberry mixture will bubble up a lot and you will use this same bowl for the icing).

2. Place the bowl with the strawberries in the microwave and cook on high power for two minutes. Remove, stir and repeat two times. You will be cooking the strawberries for a total of 6 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes.

3. Removed the strawberry mixture from the microwave and pour it into a fine-mesh strainer with a bowl set underneath. Push on the solids in the strainer with a spatula or the back of a large spoon until all of the juice has been strained out. Discard the solids and transfer the syrup back to the original large microwave-safe bowl.

4. Return the syrup to the microwave and cook on high power for another 2 minutes. At this point, you should have about a ¼ cup of syrup. If you have more than this, microwave for another minute or two until reduced to ¼ cup.

For the fresh strawberry icing:

1. While the cake is cooling, make the icing by adding the powdered sugar and vanilla to the strawberry syrup in the bowl. Stir with a whisk until smooth and well-combined.

2. Whisk in the soft butter until smooth and fluffy. The icing should be a nice spreadable consistency. If it seems too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add some half and half or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

3. Spread icing on the slightly warm or room temperature cake. The icing will swirl nicer if you allow the cake to come to room temperature. I use the back of a soup spoon to swirl the icing.

Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.

If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.

Every microwave is a little different and there are different wattages. This means that the times for cooking the icing in the microwave are approximate. Your microwave may be a little quicker or a little slower. The desired end result is a quarter cup of strawberry syrup.

Calories 359kcal

Fat 15g

Saturated fat 9g

Trans fat 1g

Polyunsaturated fat 1g

Monounsaturated fat 4g

Cholesterol 54mg

Sodium 225mg

Potassium 70mg

Carbohydrates 56g

Fiber 1g

Sugar 46g

Protein 2g

Vitamin A 460%

Vitamin C 6%

Calcium 27%

Iron 1%