Sheet cake

A sheet cake or slab cake is a cake baked in a large, flat, rectangular cake pan. Sheet cakes can be grouped into two broad categories.

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Sheet cake
Iced and decorated American sheet cake for a student graduation
Alternative names	Slab cake
Type	Cake
Course	Dessert
Serving temperature	Cold
Media: Sheet cake

Sheet cakes are usually 2 inches (5 cm) deep, although they are sometimes 3 inches (8 cm) deep. These single-layer cakes are frequently frosted, with decorations and ornamental frosting along the borders and the flat top surface.^[1]

These cakes are commonly available pre-made in supermarkets and bakeries and tend to be inexpensive due to their simple manufacturing process.^[2]^[3] There are many brands that sell boxed cake mixes that can be baked as sheet cakes, including Betty Crocker, King Arthur Flour, and Duncan Hines.^[4]

Flavors

They may be made in any flavor, with chocolate and vanilla being the two most common.^[5] Commonly made in the home with boxed cake mixes, they can come in a variety of additional flavors or with batter mix-ins, such as sprinkles and chocolate chips. Sheet cakes are made from a single continuous piece of cake, or, for very large cakes, several sheets of cake placed side by side so that it looks like a single continuous piece of cake. Nuts, chocolate chips, coconut flakes, or other toppings can be sprinkled over the top.

A layer cake may be made from a sheet cake that has been split, filled with jam or icing, and frosted.

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Size

Cake sizes are named after the size of pan that the cake is baked in. Sheet cakes, in general, are usually 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) deep, though a some recipes call for a thin sheet cake of 1 inch (2.5 cm) depth.

In American sizing, the full-size sheet pan is 26 in × 18 in (660 mm × 460 mm), which is too large for most home ovens.^[6] A half sheet pan is, half that size, or about 18 in × 13 in (460 mm × 330 mm).^[6] Quarter sheets are 9 in × 13 in (230 mm × 330 mm).^[6] The half sheet is approximately the same size as the largest mass-market sheet cakes found in supermarkets, and the quarter sheet is a common size for rectangular, single-layer cakes (e.g., the size used for a regular-sized box of cake mix, holding six cups (1.5 L) of batter^[7]).