CakeWhiz

Peppermint Cake {Candy Cane Cake}

Easy Holiday peppermint cake recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. Soft and moist vanilla cake is paired with peppermint icing and crushed candy cakes.

This is the most festive, delicious, and easy cake you can make to add beauty and vibrancy to your Christmas tablescape. This Easy Christmas Cake and Christmas Fruit Cake {With Cake Mix} are also great options or additions to your holiday feast.

Slice of Easy Peppermint Cake On White Plate

How To Make Easy Peppermint Cake Recipe From Scratch?

  1. Make cakes– Bake vanilla cakes and cool them.
  2. Trim the cake– Trim the sides and dome.
  3. Ice cake– Place one cake on a cake stand, and spread icing on top.
  4. Sprinkle peppermint sugar– Evenly.
  5. Stack cakes– Place the other cake on top of the icing and press gently.
  6. Ice cake– Until smoothly covered.
  7. Sprinkle crushed candy canes– Until cake is fully covered.
Christmas Cake With Peppermint Icing With One Slice Removed- Overhead Shot

Variations For Holiday Cake

Chocolate peppermint cake– Use this Triple Chocolate Cake in place of the yellow cake for a rich version, perfect for chocoholics.

Add extracts– Try peppermint, vanilla, or almond extract to the batter or icing for a more intense flavor.

Add whipped cream on top– Replace buttercream with Whipped Cream for a different flavor profile.

Red velvet peppermint cake– Use a red velvet mix in place of a yellow one for an even more festive interior. You can also pair with my Red Velvet Cake Recipe.

Add ganache– This Easy Chocolate Ganache {2 Ingredients} is the best. Use white chocolate in place of milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate to create a white ganache, if desired. You can use this as a frosting or a drizzle and then sprinkle the final crushed peppermint candy on top.

Add food coloring– Try adding red or green food coloring to the white frosting to make an even more colorful Holiday cake.

Easy Christmas Candy Cane Cake on White Cake Stand

Tips And Techniques For Candy Cane Cake

Short on time– Use a yellow cake mix or white cake mix. The assembling instructions are the same.

Make sure to cool the cakes completely– Because this prevents the icing from melting and sliding right off the cake.

Spread frosting smoothly– Use an icing spatula or a regular spatula to make for a smooth presentation.

How to crush candy canes? Put the candy canes into a Ziploc bag, and then crush them with a rolling pin.

How to trim the dome and sides of the cake? Use a sharp serrated knife to even the cakes to the same size and shape.

How to make peppermint sugar? Pulse candy canes finely in a blender or food processor.

Spoonful of Vanilla Cake With Crushed Candy Canes

Storage

Refrigerate– In a sealed container for up to 3 days. The candy canes will be sticky after refrigeration due to the moisture in the fridge.

Freeze– The cake and frosting can be frozen in sealed containers separately. When you are ready to enjoy this cake, thaw and assemble, as per instructions below.

More Christmas cakes/ Holiday Desserts

Easy Holiday Peppermint Cake on White Cake Stand

Another holiday cake design

  1. Bake square cakes (Dimensions: 8×4 and 4×4).
  2. Allow cakes to cool completely.
  3. Cut cakes in half and fill them with icing.
  4. Ice both cakes smoothly in frosting.
  5. Spread green Marshmallow Fondant smoothly on both cakes.
  6. Place the larger 8×4 cake on a cake board.
  7. Push a few dowels in the center.
  8. Place the smaller 4×4 cake on top of the dowels.
  9. Use Royal Icing or Glace Icing (Sugar Cookie Icing) or even corn syrup to stick broken candy canes around the base of both tiers.
  10. Arrange round peppermint candies on top as the final decoration. Stick them in place with royal icing.
  11. Scatter some roughly chopped candy canes or peppermints on top of both tiers and you are done.

This cake is just as cool as my Modern Abstract Cake or this Cake Ball Cake.

Tiered Green Peppermint Cake With Candy Canes
Slice of Easy Peppermint Cake on White Plate
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Easy Peppermint Cake

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Decorating time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Easy Holiday peppermint cake recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. Soft and moist vanilla cake is paired with peppermint icing and crushed candy cakes.
Yield: 9 Slices

Ingredients

  • 2 Vanilla cakes, This recipe yields two 8×2 round cakes
  • 3 cups American buttercream frosting, Add 1 tsp peppermint icing to this recipe
  • 1-2 tsp Peppermint sugar , Made from finely pulsed candy canes
  • 1.5 cups Candy canes, Crushed

Instructions 

  • Bake vanilla cakes and allow them to cool completely.
  • Trim the sides and dome of the cake (if any) with a sharp serrated knife.
  • Place one cake on a cake stand.
  • Spread icing on top.
  • Sprinkle peppermint sugar evenly.
  • Place the other cake on top of the icing and press gently until the two cakes stick together.
  • Spread icing all over the cake smoothly.
  • Sprinkle crushed candy canes all over the cake until it's fully covered. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Read all my tips above.
  • Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
  • Please note that moisture from the fridge will make the candy canes sticky.  

Nutrition

Calories: 887kcal, Carbohydrates: 181g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Sodium: 935mg, Potassium: 97mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 124g, Calcium: 254mg, Iron: 2mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 887
Author: Abeer Rizvi

15 comments on “Peppermint Cake {Candy Cane Cake}”

  1. the decorating on this cake is fantastic! i love how you painstakingly placed the mints. 🙂

  2. This is so awesome! I actually didn’t buy any candy canes this year. I ate a few though! Love how you used your left overs.

  3. Your cake is absolutely gorgeous! Well worth the effort of trying to get the fondant to sit on the corners properly.

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