"Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better." - Maya Angelou
I recently took part in an Instagram collab - where we all re-created an ‘old’ bake to showcase how our skills and experience had grown!
I re-created a cake I’d done a couple of years ago. It really wasn't that the 'before' cake was 'bad.' It was just not my best work - and a little boring. The collab was SO fun, and and I loved the way the re-made cake turned out! (Check out the cake comparison here!) The piping went much faster than it probably looks like – you could even just use white frosting and spread a bit of food coloring on the inside of your piping bags before you fill them. Options!
Why make a Christmas cake?
- Lightly sweet minty cake layers smothered in peppermint cream cheese buttercream frosting - frosting that colors and pipes beautifully!
- No hassle with smoothing out the frosting - just grab a piping bag!
- If you're like me - I tend to get into a bit of a Christmas dessert rut. Cakes are a great way to shake things up!
"That looks like a lot of frosting...do I have to use that much?"
Definitely not if you don't want to! I'm a bit of a cream cheese frosting addict, and I get a little sucked in to the piping process too. To use less frosting on the cake, you may want to use just small piping bags and tips. And you could also leave some gaps and decorate them with sprinkles!
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Christmas Color Cake
Christmas Color Cake - this peppermint cake covered in cream cheese frosting in classic Christmas colors is super fun, and easy to make and decorate!
Equipment
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (or 8-inch; I've found moving cakes easier on larger circles)
- large piping bag + star tip (linked is a set that contains both)
- small piping bags + tips (linked is a set that contains bags & all the tips I used)
Ingredients
Peppermint Cake layers
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks room temperature)
- 5 eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- 3-4 drops Red gel food coloring (Save & add later)
- 3-4 drops green gel food color (Save & add later)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup butter (two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 3-4 drops Red gel food coloring (Save & add later)
- 3-4 drops green gel food color (Save & add later)
Decorations
- Sprinkle mix of your choice (I used Sweetapolita’s ‘Christmas Crackers,’ and a few of their metallic rod sprinkles)
Instructions
Peppermint Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round pans with baker's floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry ingredients; continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain.
- Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on a low speed. Add in peppermint extract, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between three bowls; leave one white and mix the red gel color into the second and the green into the third. Transfer into your prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height. Marble the colors together with a knife or small offset spatula.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting - set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to make your frosting!)
- Once the layers have fully cooled, the caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while they’re still warm, they will crumble and break.
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add peppermint extract and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
- Remove about ¼ of the frosting from the bowl and mix in your red gel food color; repeat the process with the next ¼ of frosting and the green food color. You can mix colors together in your piping bags too if you’d like, or add a bit of gel color to the inside of a piping bag before adding white frosting for a fun swirled effect!
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting, and sprinkle a few Christmas nonpareil sprinkles over the frosting. Place your next cake layer on top, and repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer. I usually do this with my large offset spatula.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), you’re ready to start piping!
Decorating
- Transfer colored frostings to large & small piping bags fitted with the tips of your choice – and pipe until the cake is covered! I usually pipe large swirls first, and then work my way back around with progressively smaller tips and patterns.
- Add a few scattered sprinkles for a bit of texture; I thought angled silver rod sprinkles also added a fun look to the cake!
- Stand back - congratulate yourself on your cake– and enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate. Counts will be lower in all fields if entire batch of frosting is not used.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 782kcalCarbohydrates: 101gProtein: 9gFat: 38gPolyunsaturated Fat: -1g
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