The term “Sheet Cakes” is sometimes used interchangeably with the term “slab cake.”
Some professional bakers differentiate between the two terms as follows:
- Sheet Cakes are around 2 inches (5 cm) tall
- Slab cakes are generally about 3 inches (7 ½ cm) tall
But even though they differentiate, they acknowledge that most consumers blur the two words, sheet and slab.
If a Sheet Cake that you have ordered truly is a Sheet Cake (2 inches / 5 cm tall as opposed to a slab cake’s height of around 3 inches / 7 ½ cm), you may have to allow for larger pieces of cake thereby getting fewer pieces out of a cake than you would for a slab cake.
A quarter-Sheet Cake is made in a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) pan; a half-Sheet Cake is made in a 12 x 18 inch (30 x 45 cm) pan. Both pan sizes are 2 inches (5 cm) tall, though some are even just only 1 inch (2 ½ cm) tall, though that’s basically a jelly roll pan.
To make a full-Sheet Cake, 2 halves are put side by side.
Sheet Cakes can be bought from bakeries decorated or undecorated.