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...
Laurinda says
I made this for my grown son’s birthday. He loves snickerdoodles. The cake is amazing. I did make it in just two layers and cut the frosting recipe in half. Delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie says
This is the most amazing cake ever. After reading the article I had to make it. I’ve already forwarded this recipe to several of my best buds. Read the article last night and baked the cake this morning. Anyone debating…just bake it!!! Bonnie.
Yum says
I am not much of a cake baker or a recipe-follower, but I baked this cake exactly according to the recipe. It looked and tasted delicious! Next time, I may either use less of the icing, or find a substitute for some of the butter (maybe cream cheese?) It was lovely to indulge in a slice (or half), but we were unable to finish the cake as it was too buttery for our personal dessert-loving taste buds. Extremely memorable though! My friend just reminded me to PLEASE send her the recipe after tasting it six months ago! (And I did.)
Caroline says
I was wondering if you could freeze the cake to frost it later in the week?
Rebecca says
That should work fine!
Tiffani says
Mine is sitting in the refrigerator now. I can’t wait to try it. I’d never made buttercream frosting from scratch before so I was worried about it, but it tasted amazing and I have a little left over. And I hope my cake won’t be too dry because I baked the cake Thursday and frosted it today.
Marcy says
This is one of the best cakes I have EVER made. It knocked the socks off my dinner guests! And I may or may not have eaten it for breakfast the next morning. 🙂 I have been waiting for the right event to make it again, and now that Christmas is here, it’s time! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Laura Dembowski says
This sounds and looks incredible. I love making and eating towering layer cakes. They’re so glamorous and decadent. I know I would fall in love with this after just one bite.
Chelle says
@Ceil, if you dont want grainey frosting you can dissolve your sugar or use caster sugar!
Rebecca says
Chelle is absolutely right, but I must say that I prefer the grittiness of the brown sugar in the fluffy frosting… It reminds me of the texture of an actual snickerdoodle with the little sugar crust on it!
Jordan says
Hi I already made my frosting and it’s very gritty, thin and not very flavorful, I’m not sure what to do, do i need to add more powdered sugar? when i tried to add the half and half it became way to thin and watery:( help please!
Rebecca says
It’s going to be a bit gritty when freshly made because of the brown sugar… That subsides somewhat as the cake sits in the chill chest. If it’s too thin, try sifting in some powdered sugar and beating it. The amount of sugar and liquid have to be tinkered with depending on the relative humidity of where it’s being made!
Kim says
Ok is this four and a half sticks of butter for the frosting or four of the half sticks?
Kim says
Neverm
Ceil Garrison says
I made this cake today with the frosting. Even tho the frosting tastes good it is quite grainy. How can I fix it next time?
Linda says
I am very “GLAD” I found this recipe and can’t wait to try it! Still love to watch Pollyanna!
Denise says
Amazing cake! I can’t believe I’ve never had this before. I found it on Pinterest a few months ago and finally decided to make it. Not only did I love it, but everyone else did too! It got awesome reviews from everyone who tried it and a lot of people asked for the recipe. Your site will be getting lots of hits in the next couple of days. 😉
linda says
I made this recipe for the first time for a decadent dessert contest in my office and of course I won 1ST place now I need a follow up for my reputation 🙂
Kathryn Holt says
I’ve got a great cake recipe for your next decadent dessert contest!! It’s called Blitz Torte and it’s made with pineapple curd and meringue. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll sent you the recipe.
Smartcookie says
I made the buttercream frosting like a wilton buttercream with half crisco because it wasn not going to be refrigerated because of space issues. Worked great, crusted nicely and was DELICIOUS. My grandson liked it more than chocolate. I loved the gritty texture of the brown sugar that was truly like a good snickerdoodle cookie.
Marcy says
I am so glad that I found your recipe on Pinterest. My 2 year old daughter helped me make it. IT IS AMAZING!!!!! The friends we had over for dinner couldn’t stop raving about it (or eating it!). Thanks for the delicous recipe. I will be keeping this one in my regular rotation! 🙂 – Marcy
Julie says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have been making these (as cupcakes) for about a year now and they are by far everyone’s favorite! They turn out delicious every time 🙂
Carlyn says
Just made this in cupcake form and they are SO AMAZING! I’m so glad I found you on Pinterest!
Qponie says
Me and my dad have always loved snickerdoodles, but what made the tender flavor was the cream of tartar. How does this taste so snickerdoodle-y without the cream of tartar?
Jessica jones says
Hi I would really live to make this for my sisters graduation shes in love with cinnamon! Is there any way I can use all, all purpose flour instead of adding the cake flour?
Amanda says
OMG – I am now the master baker, thanks to you! I made the jumbo cupcakes (cooked for 25 min at 350) and cut the frosting recipe in half and they were perfect…but now I’ve got folks asking for the recipe? Can I include you in my next installment of “watcha got cookin’?” on my blog? I’ll include a picture of my cupcake and a link to you (either the site, or specific page, whichever you’d prefer).
Rebecca says
You bet! A link to this page would be marvy and I’m glad it worked out so well for you!