Half Sheet Cake
Submitted by MrsM on September 03, 2007 at 12:46 pm

DESCRIPTION
Half Sheet Cake

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under cakes

INSTRUCTIONS
I had to make a 1/2 sheet cake for my MIL's 80th birthday, and here what I came up with. Everyone had a second piece, it was just outrageously delicious. I will put this into my recipe files, and add a picture. I see my pictures that I added of the county fair wins are not showing up, I will have to call KAF and see what is up with this.

MrsM

All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Layer Cake
Ruth Levy Berenbaum, Cake Bible, page 39

6 large egg yolks
1 cup milk (8 1/2 ounces)
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour (10 1/2 ounces) OR 10 1/4 ounces bleached AP flour
1 1/2 cups sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°. Butter two 9” round cake pans and line with buttered and floured parchment paper. Or do the above with two sheet pans and make two recipes - one recipe will make one 1/2 sheet pan, 11.5 x 17.5 inches x 1 inch deep.

In a pyrex mixing cup, combine the yolks, 1/4 cup (2 ounces) milk and vanilla.

Stir together all the dry ingredients.

Cream the butter in the mixing bowl to soften. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until the butter is incorporated and there are no large pieces remaining. Add the remaining 3/4 cup milk (6 1/2 ounces) and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surfaces. Bake the layers on the middle rack of the oven for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Bake a sheet cake for 16-18 minutes. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pans only after removal from the oven. Cool the layers in the pans on racks for 10 minutes, then invert onto racks to finish cooling.

STABILIZED WHIPPED CREAM
Ruth Levy Berenbaum, Cake Bible, page 255

2 tablespoons (.5 ounce) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the place powered sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan, and gradually stir in 1/4 cup of the heavy cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and simmer for just a few seconds until the liquid is thickened. Cool to room temperature; this mixture must not be warm when added to the remaining cream, it must be cold. Add vanilla. Beat the remaining 3/4 cup cream just until traces of beater marks begin to show distinctly. Add the cornstarch mixture and beat until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.

Refrigerated up to 24 hours, this will not water out. Makes 2 cups. To frost a sheet cake you will need to start with 5 - 5 1/2 cups unwhipped cream.

CREME PÂTSSIERE

This classic French custard can be made up to two days ahead. It is a compilation of several recipes, but pastry cream recipes are all very similar.

1 cup each whole milk and heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup corn starch, sifted (1 ounce)
1 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

For thick filling, necessary for a layer cake. One recipe will fill a 9” cake. To fill a 1/2 sheet cake, you will need 3 recipes of the above. It can all be made at once in a large Dutch-oven size pot.

Heat milk/cream in a 2 quart saucepan until hot but not simmering.

Whisk the sugar, egg yolks and salt in a large bowl until thick and lemon-colored; 3-4 minutes. Add cornstarch and flour, whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot milk/cream. Return this mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking constantly and scraping pan bottom and sides as you stir, about 6-10 minutes. Off heat, stir in vanilla and butter. Place pot in an ice water bath and whisk until cooled to room temperature. Transfer to another container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until set; can be refrigerated overnight. To ensure that pastry cream does not thin out, do not whisk once it is set.