I’m really excited to share this Classic 4 Egg Yellow Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting recipe with you today because it is a long-time family favorite recipe! It combines a moist, fluffy, thick yellow cake with the best and most decadent homemade chocolate frosting! It’s the perfect sheet cake for a family or co-worker’s birthday party or celebration!
Table of Contents
Different Sizes of Sheet Cakes
A sheet cake pan can come in various sizes depending on the manufacturer. The 3 common sheet cake pan sizes are:
- Full Sheet = 12″ x 18″
- Half Sheet = 11″ x 15″
- Quarter Sheet = 9″ x 13″
Other sizes you might see are 7″ x 11″, 12″ x 16″, and 13″ x 18″. The height of sheet cake pans can range from 1″ to 3″.
For this 4-egg yellow sheet cake recipe, I used a 9″ x 13″ x 2″ Nordic Ware® sheet cake pan, which I love because it has a metal cover for the pan that can double as a small cookie sheet!
Ingredients Needed
To make this classic yellow sheet cake recipe, you will need the following ingredients.
- All-Purpose Flour. It’s always best to sift your flour (as well as your other dry ingredients) which will give you the best cake texture and crumb! As a substitute, you can use cake flour.
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Vegetable Shortening. You can use unsalted butter as a substitute, but note the texture of your cake will change slightly and it may not rise as high.
- Granulated Sugar. Or you can use organic cane sugar.
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs. You’ll need 4 large eggs at room temperature.
- Milk. You can use any dairy type for this yellow sheet cake recipe.
How to Make This Recipe
Below is a quick overview of how to make this 4 egg yellow sheet cake. You’ll need a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ sheet cake pan, flour-based baking spray, and (optionally) parchment paper (to use as a parchment paper sling to remove the cake for frosting). For the full printable cake recipe, visit the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
STEP 1. Whisk the dry ingredients together. This includes all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. I also recommend sifting them!
STEP 2. Beat the sugar and shortening. Mix using either a handheld mixer or stand mixer until light in color and fluffy in texture. It’s best to do this in a separate mixing bowl.
STEP 3. Add in the remaining wet ingredients. This includes vanilla extract and eggs. The milk you’ll use in the next step.
STEP 4. Alternate the dry ingredients with the milk. Repeat until both have just combined with the batter. Be careful not to over mix. Doing so can give you a dense, chewy cake.
STEP 5. Bake the yellow sheet cake. Recommended baking times are 35-40 minutes at 350ºF. For reference, my oven took the full 40 minutes and my cake cooled completely in about an hour.
STEP 6. Frost the cake. You can do this with the 4 egg yellow sheet cake still in the pan or you can remove it with either a parchment paper sling or invert it onto a wire cooling rack.
Chocolate Frosting Instructions
For frosting this 4-egg yellow sheet cake recipe, I recommend using this chocolate frosting recipe, adapted from America’s Test Kitchen and also used with my Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips. It’s rich, creamy, and easily spreadable using an offset spatula.
You’ll need a bar of dark chocolate, unsalted butter, confectioners sugar, salt, light corn syrup, and vanilla extract.
STEP 1. Melt the chocolate. You can do this in the microwave in 3045 increments at 50% power, stirring until melted and smooth.
STEP 2. Mix the butter and dry ingredients. This includes unsalted butter, powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt. It’s best to do this on low speed so the dry ingredients don’t fly everywhere.
STEP 3. Add in the rest of the ingredients. This includes light corn syrup and vanilla extract.
STEP 4. Frost your cooled 4 egg yellow sheet cake! Top with rainbow sprinkles or nonpareils, then enjoy!
Recommended Baking Tools
Here a few baking tools I recommend when you are baking a sheet cake recipe.
Recipe FAQs
You will need a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ cake pan.
Yes. For this 4 egg yellow sheet cake recipe, you can use unsalted butter as a substitute. Please note the texture of your cake will change slightly and it may not rise as high.
The eggs! And the more yellow the yolks are, the yellower your cake will be! Using some kinds of butter (as a substitute for vegetable shortening) can also lend a hand in giving yellow sheet cake its cheery yellow color!
More Sheet Cake Recipes from Beyond the Butter®!
Classic 4 Egg Yellow Sheet Cake
Ingredients
4 egg yellow sheet cake
- 2 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Vegetable Shortening
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Milk, any dairy type
homemade chocolate frosting
- 1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 3/4 cup Light Corn Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 8 oz Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate, melted and cooled
Instructions
4 egg yellow sheet cake
- Adjust your oven to the second level position and preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Generously spray a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with a flour-based baking spray. If you'd like an easy way to remove the sheet cake for frosting, add a parchment paper sleeve to the inside of the sheet pan. Lightly respray with the baking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set to the side.2 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour, 3 tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp Salt
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the vegetable shortening and granulated sugar together on medium high speed until light and fluffy.1 cup Vegetable Shortening, 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract.4 Large Eggs, 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Reducing the mixer speed, alternate between adding the dry mixture with the milk. Repeat until both have just combined with the batter. Be careful not to over mix!1 cup Milk
- Pour the batter into the prepared 9 x 13 inch cake pan. Gently tap a few times to remove any possible air bubbles.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350ºF or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the sheet cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before inverting it onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Add the chocolate frosting once the cake has cooled.
homemade chocolate frosting
- In a microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate in 30-45 increments at 50% power, stirring until melted and smooth. Set to the side.8 oz Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate
- Using your hand held mixer or stand up mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the unsalted butter, powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt on low-medium speed until well-blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter, 1 cup Powdered Sugar, 3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 1/8 tsp Salt
- Add in the corn syrup, vanilla extract, and melted chocolate and mix until full combined.3/4 cup Light Corn Syrup, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Frost your 4 egg yellow sheet cake using an offset spatula.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- This homemade chocolate frosting recipe will make enough for a sheet cake or approximately 30 cupcakes.
- This recipe can be made as cupcakes as well! Change the oven temp to 375ºF and bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes. Makes approx. 30 cupcakes.
- Alternatively, you can also make this in a tube pan. Set oven temp at 375ºF and bake for approximately 55-60 minutes.
- The cake recipe is from the recipe box of my late Grammy.
- The frosting recipe is adapted from “The Perfect Cake” book by America’s Test Kitchen.
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used. See Nutritional Disclaimer for more info.
I made this cake the other day for an upside down rhubarb cake, it was absolutely delicious! my guests couldn’t stop raving about how good the cake base was, they thought it was cake box mix, i said, nope! it’s from scratch ❤️ thank you for sharing this cake recipe, it’s definitely a keeper 😋
*I used buttermilk for the milk, it took it to another level wow!
Absolutely delicious! I accidentally overcooked the cake and was a tad dry, my bad. But the icing made up for it! It is the absolute best chocolate icing I’ve ever had and I have made a ton of different types and this is by far the best.
Looking for a yellow full sheet cake recipe that will fill a 18x 24 or 26 inch pan, so far can’t seem to find one to fill that size pan
Hi Diane, you would have to double this recipe to have it work with the 18 x 24 inch pan. How tall are the sides of that pan?
Such an amazing recipe — the recipe card is so easy to follow as the amounts are inserted in the step-by-step directions. I also was making this for a birthday cake so instead of a sheet pan I used a bundt pan and it turned out perfectly! And, the icing, oh that phenomenal icing! It’s as smooth as Italian buttercream but SO easy! Absolute perfection! Thanks Jennifer for sharing the recipe! We will enjoy it again and again!
Shawna, seeing the bundt cake pics you shared on IG of this cake totally made my week (and it’s been a stressful week), so thank you! And I appreciate the feedback on the recipe card and for including that you made this as a bundt cake. I will have to make it with one of mine next time!
hello! l’m planning on baking this and then traveling with it for nine hours, do you think it’s best to frost it after the nine hour drive or should it be okay? thank you!
If it were me, I’d probably wait and just frost it at my destination.