This Classic 4 Egg Yellow Sheet Cake recipe combines a soft, fluffy, thick yellow sheet cake with rich, creamy homemade chocolate frosting! It’s the perfect year-round treat to bring to a birthday party, book club get-together, or work celebration!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I’m really excited to share this Classic 4 Egg Yellow Sheet Cake recipe with you today because it is a longtime family favorite!
It’s a moist, fluffy, thick yellow sheet cake with the most decadent homemade chocolate frosting, which I also used with my Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips recipe. You can also make this yellow sheet cake recipe as cupcakes!
And just like my German Chocolate Sheet Cake, Coconut Sheet Cake, and Hummingbird Sheet Cake, this recipe is great for a family birthday party, a picnic, or a ///work party!
Table of Contents
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItIngredients Needed
The following ingredients are needed to make this 4-egg yellow cake recipe with chocolate frosting. Items noted in the bulleted list are key ingredients that need a bit more explanation.
- 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. The brand I recommend is always King Arthur!
- Vegetable Shortening. You can use unsalted butter as a substitute, but note that the texture of your cake will change slightly, and it may not rise as high.
- Milk. You can use any type of dairy milk (whole, 2%, 1%, or skim) for this yellow sheet cake recipe.
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips. You can also use milk chocolate chips. I prefer the Ghirardelli brand of chocolate chips because they melt nicely.
- Unsalted Butter. This is used only for the homemade chocolate frosting recipe.
- Light Corn Syrup. This adds a nice glossy finish to the frosting and makes it easy to spread onto the cake! I like the Karo brand, but use whatever is available near you!
For quantities and instructions, please see the recipe card below.
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!
How to Make The Recipe
Below is a quick overview of how to make this homemade 4-egg yellow sheet cake. For the full printable recipe, with US customary or metric measurements, visit the recipe card below.
4-Egg Yellow Sheet Cake
Step 1. Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
Step 2. Beat the sugar and shortening together in a separate bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer until light in color and fluffy in texture.
Step 3. Add in the vanilla extract and eggs.
Step 4. Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the milk. Repeat until both have just combined with the batter. Be careful not to overmix.
Step 5. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350ºF.
Step 6. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Chocolate Frosting
Step 1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-45 second increments at 50% power, stirring until melted and smooth.
Step 2. Add the butter, powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt to a mixing bowl.
Step 3. Mix together on low speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 4. Add in light corn syrup and vanilla extract. Blend until the chocolate frosting comes together.
Step 5. Frost the cooled yellow sheet cake with an offset spatula.
Step 6. Add your favorite sprinkles or nonpareils. Slice and enjoy!
Storage Instructions
This chocolate-frosted yellow sheet cake is best kept covered at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let any refrigerator frosted cake come to room temperature.
To freeze slices of 4-egg yellow sheet cake with chocolate frosting, place on a caking sheet and freeze until solid. Then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container for up to three months.
Recipe FAQs
Yellow cake has a buttery, vanilla flavor.
Yes. For this 4-egg yellow sheet cake recipe, you can use unsalted butter as a substitute. Please note that 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 certain types of butter (as a substitute for vegetable shortening) can also help give yellow sheet cake its cheery yellow color!
If you tried this Classic 4-Egg Yellow Sheet Cake recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know what you thought in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
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 rack to the middle position, then preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Generously spray a 9-inch 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 or slicing, add a parchment paper sleeve to the inside of the pan, allowing the paper to hang over the sides (crease them to help keep them in place). Lightly respray the parchment paper with the baking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.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
- Reduce the mixer speed, and alternate between adding the dry mixture and the milk. Repeat until both have just combined with the batter. Be careful not to overmix!1 cup Milk
- Pour the batter into the prepared 9-inch x 13-inch cake pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter 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.
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 fully combined.3/4 cup Light Corn Syrup, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Frost your cooled yellow sheet cake using an offset spatula, top with your favorite sprinkles, then serve and enjoy!
- This chocolate-frosted yellow sheet cake is best kept covered at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let any refrigerator frosted cake come to room temperature. To freeze slices of 4-egg yellow sheet cake with chocolate frosting, place on a caking sheet and freeze until solid. Then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container for up to three months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used. See Nutritional Disclaimer for more info.
If I substitute cake flour for all purpose does ratio/measurement change?
Hi Gladys, yes subbing out the all purpose flour for cake flour would change the measurement. I didn’t test the recipe with cake flour though, so I don’t know how much more to add. I recommend maybe searching online what the common ratio is when subbing out one for the other. If you give it a go, let me know how it turns out. Happy baking!
This review is only for the cake. I give it 5 stars as it’s a good basic recipe. Mine did come out a bit dry – possibly because I used medium eggs and it’s my electric oven to be honest. If you are in the UK, like me, note that 350F is not 180 celsius; it’s more like 175C. I think at that temperature, it would have baked better. Alternatively, I could have taken it out at 30 minutes, rather than 35.
Hi Elizabeth! Thank you for making the cake recipe and for your notes!
Followed the recipe/directions. Cake didn’t rise. Didn’t care for the flavor. Must have done something wrong.
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t turn out for you. It’s possible your baking powder had expired. I appreciate you taking the time to make it and for the feedback.
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.