In honour of Valentine’s Day I’m bringing back one of my most popular posts EVER here on Foodie with Family from the archives. That’s right, folks, Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream is back. Make this sweet for your sweetie.
This Snickerdoodle Cake is something special folks. A towering four layer Snickerdoodle cake made with cinnamon, vanilla, and butter is generously iced with a rich Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Recipe for a cake that is the stuff of dreams. Make no mistake. This one is indulgent and it is worth it!
Here is the cake that upended my tidy little world. This is a Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Recipe.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not fond of cake or frosting. (Here and here, for starters…) As a little girl, I watched “Pollyanna” over and over. I’m talking about the original nineteen-sixty Disney film. It was one of the twenty five movies available for rental in the small movie section of the Glen’s Market in Gaylord, Michigan where we shopped. Despite my dislike for cake, I dreamed of the giant slab of cake she scored at the fair. That towering layer cake called to me like no other cake could. And for the most of my life, I resigned myself to the fact that while that Pollyanna cake looked so good, no cake measured up to the promise it offered. That is still true except. for. this. cake. And who do I blame thank for this earth shaker? My friend, Krysta. She, without a word, sent me this link. No word of warning, no heads-up. No. Just a link. She knows my feelings on snickerdoodles so she sent it my way. She didn’t know it, but she delivered my Pollyanna cake to me.
All of a sudden, in my brain at least, I was Hayley Mills wandering around a small town fair with the world’s largest slice of layer cake, in this case, Snickerdoodle Cake and a sunny disposition. I might’ve even belted out the National Anthem and poked at the little prism dangling in my kitchen window. It was as good as I thought it would be.
The Snickerdoodle Cake itself is a cinnamon vanilla butter cake. (I died a little bit just typing that…) It is moist, it is cinnamon-y. I’ve never had a cake like that. It is layered around and slathered with the only buttercream I have ever craved in my life; brown sugar cinnamon butter cream. (A little more dead now…) It is smooth yet still crunchy with sugar. It has little bursts of brown sugar and cinnamon and it is smoothed out with half and oh-my-goodness half. People. The buttercream. It must be stopped. CLICK HERE for the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Recipe.
Who’s in?
Before you pop over to the recipe for the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream and rub your eyes and question me, that is not a typo. Yes, there really ARE 4 1/2 sticks of butter in the buttercream. I told you it must be stopped.
Cook’s Tips
Here are some tried and true cake baking and decorating tips to help you get the most polished finished product before you polish off your finished product.
-To butter two pans easily, smear the pans with the butter wrappers you used for the cake itself (use more soft butter if necessary.) *If you choose to use parchment, too, butter under AND over the parchment for easiest release.
-To flour those pans neatly, toss 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour into one pan, swirl it around over the second pan then tap the excess into the second pan. Repeat the process with the second pan, then tap the excess into the garbage.
-When dividing cake batter between pans, use a scale to get them as close to even as possible. No scale? Scoop it in with a measuring cup.
-Smooth the top of the cake batter into the pan and tap firmly on the counter several times before baking to settle the batter evenly.
-Rotate pans front to back and side to side mid way through baking.
-Cool the cakes COMPLETELY before slicing into layers. Do not hurry this or you will regret it immensely while you cry over your broken cake.
-Before slicing your cooled cakes into layers, use a large serrated knife to even up the top of the cake. (In other words, to slice off any dome that formed while baking.)
-Before you move your cake to the plate you’ll use to frost and serve it, lay four strips of parchment or waxed paper around the edges. Center the cake on the parchment strips. This will help you frost the cake rather than the plate. When you’re done frosting, pull the strips straight away from the cake. Ta da! Professionally done. Go you!
-Make sure each layer of frosting/cake is level before adding another level. It is much easier to adjust as you go along than to try to fix everything with frosting.
-When the cake is assembled, refrigerate for at least an hour (preferably more) before attempting to slice into wedges. If you skip this step, the cake is likely to shift around on the frosting and look like it was thrown together by drunken monkeys.
-If you forget all of these steps it really won’t matter because you’ll still have this cake. Pour yourself a nice hot cup of coffee or tea and enjoy it anyway!
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Snickerdoodle Cake
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks butter 8 ounces by weight, softened to room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups fine or superfine sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk warmed to room temperature
- 1 batch of Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Optional:
- Whole cinnamon sticks for garnish
Instructions
To Bake the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in colour.
- Beat the eggs in one at a time, fully incorporating each egg and scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
- Add about 1/3 of the milk, beat to incorporate, then 1/3 of the flour, again beating to incorporate.
- Repeat this process, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until all of the milk and flour are added and mixed in evenly.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake, rotating midway through, for about 35 minutes or until the cake tests done.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning out onto the racks to finish cooling.
To Assemble and Frost the Cake:
- Level out your cooled cakes and cut each into two even layers.
- Place one layer on a cake plate then add a layer of buttercream, spreading to the edges and evening out as you go. Repeat with the remaining layers.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream.
- If desired, garnish the top of the cake with whole cinnamon sticks.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing.
- Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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Originally published August 26, 2011.
Reader's Thoughts...
Jennifer says
I made this on Tuesday for hub’s bday. The cake itself was AMAZING. Moist, flavorful, delicious. The icing was delicious as well, but über sweet. When I make this again I will most likely make it a single layer to reduce the amount of icing used or use a cream cheese icing between the layers. All in all, it was delicious!!
Danielle says
Pity you didn’t say when to put the vanilla in 🙁 I, for the first time in my life, tried to follow a baking recipe (I always fail) to the T. I only realised now after putting the cakes in the oven that I didn’t put any vanilla in…then realised it wasn’t in your step by step 🙁
Rebecca says
I must have back spaced through that instruction. I’m sorry! I’m confident that the cake will still be delicious without it, it just won’t have that hint of vanilla in it. I’ve fixed the printable to reflect that!
michelle says
I am baking this tonight but have a question about the refrigeration. My dinner party is tomorrow. Should I bake it and put the whole thing in the fridge overnight? or just for a few hours and then take it for overnight? My whole cake plate will definitely not fit in the fridge. Just trying to think of the logistics unless I do this tomorrow along with the other millions of things on my list. Thanks!
Arlene says
Prepare the icing and place it in the refrigertor. In fact I make the icing first anyway and keep it in the frig. Bake your cake and after it cools down, keep it in the pans(I would use parchment paper for this idea for the bottom of the pans)and cover it. Then keep it in a cool area of your kitchen. The next day take out the frosting fluff it up, divide your cakes and frost it….There ya go. 🙂
Elizabeth says
What a delight to find your link on apartmenttherapy and than read you grew up in Gaylord and now live in Traverse City. I am originally from Mackinaw City and grew up going to the Glens Family Market in Cheboygan. I live in Denver now but am very proud of my strong Michigan roots. Can’t wait to try this recipe and follow your blog!
Nicole says
I made this cake, and I follow directions pretty closely, and it looked nothing like that. The cakes were dense, thin, and sort of a pinkish tinted color, and the icing was pretty dark. I have no idea, with the brown sugar and cinnamon, how you could have gotten your icing that white? Eight cups of confectioner’s sugar certainly did not make mine much lighter. I’m wondering what I could’ve done wrong?
Sofia says
This is a silly question, but I don’t want the frosting too liquid, for the frosting is it 4 1/2 sticks of butter or 4 half sticks. I know it is more common sense and will be 4 1/2 sticks but I really don’t want to mess it up!
Rebecca says
Not silly. I understand 100%. You are correct in assuming it is four and a half sticks of butter! How can it go wrong with four and a half sticks of butter? 🙂
Jason says
I have not tried this yet, but I think you may have just changed my life.
Wendy says
Hey!! We used to shop at Glens Market when we camped at Otsego Lake. {yrs ago when I was a kid} This cake looks to yummy not to try. Think I will be doing the baking for the next “family” dinner.
Krista says
So I tried the cake tonight and followed the directions to the letter. Unfortunately my cake didn’t rise at all. I wonder if my baking powder has expired? Is that possible? Anyway, it tasted good and the icing was fantastic. We liked the crunchy bits in the icing. I will try this recipe again and hope that I get a rise out of it 😉
Arlene says
Make sure your flours and baking powder are always fresh..If you live in a high altitude location you should check about adding extra liquids. Check on line about baking in high and low altitudes.
Kim says
Was your frosting gritty from the brown sugar? Mine was. It was okay if you think about it being like a snickerdoodle, which has the crunchy sugar all over it, but I was wondering if I did something wrong.
Rebecca says
Yes, it was a little gritty. It was intentional to mimic the texture of a snickerdoodle. I liked it that way 🙂
elaine harris says
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I made this as cupcakes for a baby shower at work. They were a big hit. I posted a picture on my site. Thanks again!
Amber in Texas says
Oh.My.Word, this looks just SOOOOOO Yummy. May have to make this during the weekend. Thanks for sharing.
Steph says
I used unsalted butter.
Just wanted to say, this is one of the beat cakes and frosting I’ve ever had! The frosting is so addictive I had together it out of the house!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. It’s definitely a keeper.
Heather says
What kind of butter do you recommend to use? My buttercream came out kind of weird….and i think it had to do with the type of butter i used
Steph says
Thanks Rebecca!
I, like the above poster, made cupcakes (and mini loaves because I just bought the pan and I heart it) instead of the cake as I’ve made them for a birthday party at work. There was less chance of me stuffing up cupcakes than a beautiful cake like you have photographed. Anyway, I haven’t frosted them yet, but even neggie they are soo yummy, light, and lovely.
Just wanted to mention, you list vanilla in the ingredients, but do not in the steps. =)
Wish me luck on the frosting!
Heather says
Ive been waiting for a great time to make this cake! Low and behold what a better time than the family reunion to display an awesome cake.
I may have messed up the buttercream…i had to half the recipe. See what had happened was in the first batch using all said ingredients i thought I had forgotten the vanilla, needless to say I added it and well…it was not that tasty. All of this lead to some frustration, i ended up cutting my foot on a knife that was on the floor (no idea it was there till i was bleeding) had to go to the store for more powdered sugar forgot the butter. I had just enough to half all of it…do you think it will be ok?
either way i had some of the cake part…oh gosh amazing!
Steph says
Oooommmmmgggg this cake looks so good. I have a couple of questions, though. There is no half and half in Australia. So I am assuming, in this recipe, it would be 1/4 of milk and 1/4 of heavy cream? Also, we do not half sticks of butter. Can someone weigh a stick and lemme know how many ounces it is? I can convert it to grams. Thanks!!
Rebecca says
You’re right on with the milk/cream combination! As for the butter, one stick is 1/4 of a pound, so one stick is 4 ounces by weight or (according to my scale) 113.4 grams. Happy baking!
catherinr says
I live in Denver and would love to try this but I’m thinking the recipe will require some adjustments. Do you have any suggestions for making this successfully in our high altitude? Thanks!
Keely says
SO YUM! The frosting tasted just like snickerdoodle batter! Don’t ask me how I know this 🙂
I will definitely make it again, but I think that I will cut the frosting in half and not split the layers. We are huge sweet teeth in this family, but with all of the frosting, it was just too rich and sweet for us to have more than a few bites (and whoa, we have a giant cake here). I think that the two layers of cake and one center layer of frosting plus the top and sides would be perfect for us.
Thanks for the recipe! One of the easiest scratch cakes I’ve made!
Katie @FedandZested says
wow! This cake looks fantastic (and I too used to eye that Pollyanna wonder-cake!) Thanks for sharing!