Christmas Tree Cake
Get crafty in the kitchen with this homemade recipe for Christmas Tree Cake. It’s the perfect dessert to serve after enjoying holiday dinner with the people who mean the most to you.
Servings 10 Servings
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 2/3 c all purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbs cornstarch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/3 c sugar
- 3/4 c salted butter room temperature
- 1/4 c shortening room temperature
- 3 eggs + 1 yolk
- 2 c buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp peppermint or other extract of your choice
Buttercream:
- 8 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 4 c salted butter room temperature
- 3 Tbs salted butter melted
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Green food coloring
Trees:
- 10 sugar cones
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the bottoms of 3-9” cake pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with baking spray. Set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine sugar, butter and shortening. Beat together on medium speed for 1 minute, until smooth and fluffy. Add in the eggs and mix for 30 seconds. Add in the milk, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix to combine. Add in the flour mixture and mix on a low speed until incorporated.
- Evenly divide the batter into the prepared cake pans, then place them into the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Once baked, remove from the oven and place onto a wire cooling rack to let cool completely.
Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment combine powdered sugar, butter, melted butter, vanilla and salt. Mix together on low speed until combined, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 4 minutes. Once well mixed, remove 2 1⁄2 cups of buttercream and place it into a separate bowl. Add drops of food coloring into the remaining frosting until the desired color is reached.
Trees:
- Use an icing spatula to cover each sugar cone with a thin layer of green frosting. Spoon some of the green frosting into a piping bag fitted with a small star piping tip. Starting at the bottom of the sugar cone, pipe with medium pressure until the frosting starts to build underneath the piping tip. Slowly pull the piping tip up towards the tip of the cone, then with a quick motion slightly push the piping pipe down, then up and away from the cone, releasing pressure. Repeat in a row around the base of the cone, then start at the top of the row you just piped to begin the next row. Continue piping rows until you have reached the top of the cone. Repeat with the remaining cones.
Assembly:
- Once the cakes have completely cooled, carefully remove them from the cake pans. Place the 1st cake onto a cake stand or plate. Add about 1 cup of green frosting on top of the cake and evenly spread out using an icing spatula. Place the 2d cake on top and repeat the frosting process, ending with the 3rd cake on top.
- Once all of the cakes have been layered, frost the top and sides of the cake with the white frosting. Place the frosted trees on top of the cake. Any extra trees can be placed on the side next to the cake. Dust the trees with powdered sugar before serving.