Over the past few days, I traded the time I usually spend baking in the kitchen to bake in the Texas heat. Holy moly, Austin is hot. But now I’m back and baking up a storm. Sort of…
Friends with furry pets have told me their animals act out when they are away from the house too long. I think my kitchen is behaving the same way. I had an incredibly tough time pulling this cake together. I got the first batch of walnuts too toasty, I mixed the batter three separate times (that’s all I’m going to say about that), and I dropped my camera in the icing on a piece of cake. Not to mention the beautiful mess of dishes I created in the process.
When the dust had settled, I ended up with a white Texas sheet cake as a nod to my visit to the lone star state. The recipe caught my eye when I was flipping through a hometown cookbook a while back, and I knew I would make it someday simply because I had never encountered a white Texas sheet cake before.
Instead of chocolate, this cake gets its flavor from orange. It tastes very sweet and citrusy, and the light flavor would be the perfect sweet for a hot day. Enjoy!
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, thawed
- zest of one orange
- Frosting
- ½ stick (1 cup) butter
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 2 tablespoons milk
- Sugared Walnuts
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- For the cake, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the egg, milk, orange juice concentrate, and orange zest. Mix until well combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Pour the batter into a greased, 11 x 17 jelly roll pan.
- Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- For the frosting, cream the butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed.
- Add the orange juice concentrate and milk and increase speed to high. Beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- For the sugared walnuts, place a baking sheet holding the walnuts into the oven after the cake has baked. Roast approximately five minutes.
- When cool, transfer the walnuts to a bowl and mix with the honey and the sugar.
- Return the walnuts to the baking sheet and roast until fragrant, approximately five to 10 minutes.
- Frost the cake when cool and top with the sugared walnuts.
sorry this cake gave you some trouble – we’ve all been there + it can get frustrating. looks good, though + i love the sound of the flavor combinations!
The words of encouragement are much appreciated. As revenge, I’ve decided to mash the cake and icing together to make cake balls.