Graduation Sheet Cake Buttercream Roses (Print version)

Moist vanilla sheet topped with creamy buttercream and vibrant piped roses, perfect for festive occasions.

# What You'll 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

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12x18-inch sheet cake pan and line with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
03 - In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 3-4 minutes.
04 - Add eggs one at a time, beating well 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 (red, pink, yellow) and leaves (green), leaving some white 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 petal tips for roses and leaf tips for foliage. Pipe roses and leaves across the cake, focusing on corners and borders.
12 - Using a small round piping tip, add a congratulatory message or personalized graduation greeting.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The vanilla cake itself is so tender and moist that it stays fresh for days, making it forgiving for busy celebration days.
  • Piping roses sounds intimidating until you realize the buttercream is wonderfully forgiving—happy accidents still look beautiful on a graduation cake.
  • You can make this entirely the day before, then add final touches in the morning, taking the stress out of timing.
02 -
  • Room temperature ingredients are non-negotiable for this recipe—cold eggs and butter won't emulsify properly, and your cake will be dense instead of fluffy.
  • Overmixing the batter after you add flour is the single biggest way to accidentally make this cake tough, so fold gently once everything is just combined.
  • Gel food coloring makes all the difference between vibrant, pretty roses and pastel, diluted-looking ones that disappear into the frosting.
03 -
  • If you don't have a petal piping tip, use what you have—even a basic star tip creates beautiful texture, and no one will know the difference once roses are clustered together.
  • Make extra frosting in a neutral color before you add coloring, so you have backup white for crumb coating and messages without using up your colored batches.
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