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...
Patricia says
I was excited to try this cake. I love snickerdoodles anyways. However, the frosty was way to sweet for me. The cake was dry but I probably baked too long.
Kara says
This is our family’s favorite cake! Use it almost every year for everyone’s birthday!!
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you love it, Kara, and thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! You made my day!
Alex says
This cake was absolutely delicious, decadent, and mouth watering. I can’t wait to make it again! The frosting is melt -in-your-mouth good and I’ll tell ya..if you have any leftover frosting it makes for a yummy pretzel dip sweet treat or even a dollop mixed in your coffee in place of your usual creamer. I’ll be making this cake again soon!
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Alex! It’s been far too long since I made this. I bet my kids would be overjoyed if I made some this weekend!
CrazyCookieLady says
This cake is delicious and the buttercream is fantastic! My whole family loved the texture from the brown sugar. Im not a huge fan of silky smooth frosting so I was very excited to try this “crunchy” frosting and it did not disappoint! Thank you very much for sharing this delicious cake recipe. Its definitely a keeper!
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ViViYaYa says
Hello Foodie with Family,
I would like to know if you or others have ever made this cake using three 8 inch cake pans?
If you did how long did it take to bake the 3 separate cakes?
ViVi
Rebecca says
Hi ViViYaYa- I have not personally tried baking it in three layers so I’m afraid I’m no help on that! I imagine it could be done. Just watch the cake as it’ll surely be done faster!
ViVi YaYa says
Thanks for the speedy reply. I’ll let you know if I decide to bake it in 3 pans.
May stick with the tried and true as the recipe states. 2 layers. Split them.
Heather Powell says
My neice has chosen your Snicker doodle cake and the Brown Sugar buttercream for her wedding cake. I was wondering if you know how many recipes to make for it of both the cake and the frosting for the size cakes that I’m making for her? Also the baking times for the size pans I’m using. The bottom will be a 10 in circle, the middle is an 8 in circle and the top will be a 6 in circle. I’m also making 24 cupcakes extra to make sure we have enough. Thanks for the recipe, I haven’t made it yet but it sounds very delicious.
Rebecca says
Hi Heather- Unfortunately, I have not done that kind of calculating for this particular recipe. I’d advise doing some experimenting ahead of time. Best of luck to your niece and to you for baking it! <3
Alli says
Hello from Indiana. I had to bake mine for 45 min.
Becky says
Just wanting to confirm the amount of Baking powder in the recipe – is it really 1 tablespoon? I have never made a cake before that had that much baking powder. Cake is in the oven so hopefully, that’s correct.
Rebecca says
Confirmed! I know it’s different, but the cake is quite good.
Courtney says
Did you use salted or unsalted butter for both the cake and frosting?
Rebecca says
I used unsalted butter in both!
Singlemom says
Is this suppose to be a denser cake? I made it and it seemed dense. It could have been something I did since I am new to baking.
Also, my icing was a little grainy. Maybe I need to cream it longer, but was looking for some thoughts
Rebecca says
It is a denser cake and the icing is intended to have some crunchy sugar crystals in it like a snickerdoodle does on top of it!
Rebecca says
I should also mention that the density of the cake can be dependent partially on how you measure your flour! Do you scoop it from the bag/canister? Scoop/sprinkle/level? Measure by weight? The most accurate way to measure is by weight. That is 4.25 ounces per cup, in case you want to try it. Any other method can vary by as much as half a cup (volume-wise). While the cake is a little denser than a cake mix, for instance, it shouldn’t be super dense. The measurement style might account for some of it!
Cake lover says
Okay I wrote my original review under the frosting but here it is again this cake was so good it looked so beautiful when it was cut it looked like a professional made cake wedding cake that is there was absolutely no tunnels in the cake it was delicious and everybody liked it and I will be making it again my only complaint is that it is too much batter for 2 9 inch round cake pans next time I will make it with 3 9 inch round cake pans to make sure I don’t get the Crusty edges again even though I just trim them off.
michelle says
saw this wonderful cake on angie keiser’s (2sisters_angie) snapchat yesterday and had to make it! i did make it last night and what a treat it is! so flavorful and yummy. not dry at all …. i followed the recipe to the tee and had no issues. thank you for sharing the recipes!
Rebecca says
Thank you, Michelle! It’s always nice to hear back from folks who have tried a recipe and loved it! I’m so glad you liked it!
frances says
i’ve had this bookmarked forever and finally had an excuse when i decided to make cinnamon toast crunch cupcakes for a co-worker’s birthday. a full recipe gave me 12 cupcakes plus an 8 inch round (for me to eat at home, obvs). i figured with so much baking powder the cupcakes would rise a lot so filled the papers no more than 2/3 full; the ones that were on the heavy side of that almost-but-not-quite overflowed, so err on the side of too little. they did bake up nice and flat, though. they took about 20 minutes at 325. the 8 inch round was pretty full; it ended up rising nearly to the top of the pan (2 inches) and since it was so thick it took nearly 45 minutes to bake through. taking it out of the pan, i noticed the sides were very crumbly; if i were doing a layer cake i’d definitely need to brush it off and do a crumb coat. however, i am fortunately only slathering it with the remains of the frosting after decorating the cupcakes, so it doesn’t really matter… plus, who’s going to complain about cake??
Rebecca says
If someone complains about cake, they don’t deserve to eat it. 😀 Thank you for the detailed breakdown of how you made this recipe your own. It’ll be awesome to have here in case someone asks how to convert it to cupcakes (because someone usually does!)
Stacey Anderson says
I made this cake for Valentine’s day and my family LOVED it! They could not get enough of it. My daughter loved it sooo much that I have to make it for her birthday next week and we are going to try the cupcake route! Wish my luck!!! PS. love this site and that you are a fellow Michigander as well. <3
Karen Jacob says
Rebecca, the cake is amazing! I made your batter twice this week: as a sheet cake as well as cupcakes for my son’s birthday party. Everyone loved it! I did change the frosting though, and have a post up with the variation today. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe. 🙂
Rebecca says
I’m so glad you liked it, Karen! Thanks for letting me know!
IndianaAnna says
My 12-year old son selected this as his birthday cake and we all found it to be amazingly delicious! I did cut the buttercream recipe in half and left the cake as only two layers (with half the frosting recipe). It was perfect.
Rachel Matthews says
GORGEOUS! I can’t wait to make this cake, Rebecca! YUM
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
Whoa. Love this towering cake. Look incredible. Bring on the butter!!! XO
grace says
if i made this, i’d be lying if i said it was for my beau. this has the potential to be my favorite cake ever!
Rebecca says
♥
SLODian says
We have made these in cupcake for weddings. People always ask what they are and are delighted with the treats. They come out nicely flat for frosting so they are a dream to make. I usually start checking for doneness at 18 minutes