Fluffy Yellow Sheet Cake

Fluffy Yellow Sheet Cake - made September 21, 2013 from One Bowl Baking by Yvonne Ruperti

This was the 3rd dessert I packaged up and brought to Florida with me to pass out to my coworkers there.  Normally I wouldn't bring a frosted cake across the country with me as cakes don't hold up as well as brownies for traveling and are easily smushed en route.  But I had already made 2 kinds of brownies and wanted something non-chocolate to bring that also made enough to fill multiple treat bags.

Cakes also don't remain as fresh as brownies for very long (at least, not to my picky taste buds) so what I did as soon as I had baked and frosted this is package it all up (2 squares of frosted cake to a package, wrapped in plastic wrap) and place them in freezer bags to reside in the freezer until the day I left.  When I pack for my travels and am bringing baked goods, I pack my carry-on luggage the night before and on top, put in empty amazon shipping boxes.  That way I know how much room I have and I put the wrapped brownies and cake directly into the empty boxes right before I leave.  The baked goods go directly from the freezer to my carry-on, I zip it up and I'm off to the airport.

They'll slowly thaw on the flight but by the time I hand them out the next day, they still retain some freshness.  I counsel the recipients of the treat bags that if they're not going to eat them right away, to put them in the freezer (never the fridge) to maintain their freshness. I'm possibly the only one who's that picky about it though as no one seems to notice if they're a day or two away from the oven or freezer. But since I tend to consume everything I post within hours, if not minutes, of when they come out of the oven, my taste buds are pretty jaded.

The taste of the cake was good although it wasn't quite as fluffy as I would have liked.  You can tell by looking at the air pockets in the cake that I certainly beat the batter enough for the cake to rise so it's possible I should've baked it a minute or two longer so it wouldn't be as dense and would be a little lighter.  And that was with me actually baking the cake for a few minutes longer than my underbaking instincts told me to because I know I usually underbake cakes and I was trying to break that bad habit. Apparently I still need a little more work in that area.

16 tablespoons (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ cups (10.5 ounces) granulated sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 ¼ cups (300 ml) whole milk, room temperature

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ¾ cups (11 ounces) cake flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1.       Place an oven rack in the middle position.  Preheat oven to 350⁰F.  Line a 9 x 13” baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.       In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and salt until creamy.

3.       Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, until each is incorporated.

4.       Whisk in the milk and vanilla.

5.       Add the flour and baking powder to the bowl, then whisk gently until combined.

6.       Pour the batter into the pan and bake until golden, just firm, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

7.       Set the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely before frosting.