Graduation Sheet Cake Buttercream (Printer-friendly)

Moist vanilla sheet cake crowned with smooth buttercream and vibrant piped roses, perfect for celebrations.

# What You Need:

→ Sheet Cake

01 - 3 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2½ teaspoons baking powder
03 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
04 - ½ teaspoon salt
05 - 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
06 - 2 cups granulated sugar
07 - 4 large eggs, room temperature
08 - 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
09 - 1¼ cups whole milk, room temperature

→ Buttercream

10 - 1½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
11 - 6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
12 - ¼ cup whole milk
13 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
14 - Gel food coloring in assorted colors

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 12x18-inch sheet cake pan with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
03 - In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract.
05 - Alternately add flour mixture and milk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined.
06 - Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
07 - Cool cake completely in the pan on a wire rack before decorating.
08 - Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, then milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
09 - Divide buttercream into separate bowls. Tint portions with gel food coloring for roses in red, pink, and yellow, and leaves in green. Reserve white buttercream for base layer.
10 - Spread a thin layer of white buttercream over the cooled cake to create a smooth foundation.
11 - Fit piping bags with desired tips. Pipe roses and leaves across the cake, focusing on corners and borders for visual impact.
12 - Use a small round piping tip to add a congratulatory message or personalized graduation greeting to the cake.

# Cooking Tips:

01 -
  • The buttercream stays silky smooth and pipes beautifully, even if piping isn't your strongest skill.
  • It's forgiving enough to make ahead but fancy enough to steal the show at any celebration.
  • Those roses taste as good as they look, and watching them come together feels like a small magic trick.
02 -
  • If your buttercream looks grainy or broken after adding powdered sugar, your butter wasn't room temperature or your mixing bowl was too cold, so add a tablespoon of milk and keep beating until it comes back together.
  • Piping roses is a skill that improves with practice, not perfection, and the first rose on your cake will never look like the seventh, and that's exactly how it should be.
03 -
  • If your piping bag keeps slipping while you're decorating, wrap a rubber band around it for grip, or better yet, warm your hands slightly so the buttercream stays slightly soft.
  • Make this cake the day before the celebration and frost it the morning of, which gives you less stress and actually makes the cake taste better because the flavors have time to settle.
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