Letter to Santa Cake Recipe

Course: Cake, Craft, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 30

Chill Time: 2 10

Total Time: 3 10

Servings: slices

Calories: 624kcal

Author: Becky Hardin - Easy Dessert Recipes

This Letter to Santa Cake is a unique and festive treat to include at your next Christmas party! This recipe is also a wonderful kid-friendly dessert for your little ones to help make and write their wish list on!

Print Recipe

Equipment

Kitchen Scale (optional)
2 9-inch Square Cake Pan
Stand Mixer
Piping Tip Set (optional)

Ingredients

For the Cake

2½ cups all-purpose flour 350 grams
2 teaspoons baking powder 8 grams
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter 115 grams, room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar 300 grams
⅓ cup vegetable oil 67 grams
3 large eggs 150 grams, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 12 grams
1 cup milk 227 grams, room temperature

For the Frosting

3½ cups powdered sugar 420 grams
1 cup unsalted butter 227 grams, slightly melted (if cold from fridge, about 45 seconds in the microwave)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 8 grams
1 tablespoon heavy cream optional, for consistency
Gel food coloring red, black, and blue

Instructions

For the Cake

Preheat to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch square cake pans with nonstick spray and line the inside bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside for now.
2½ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and vegetable oil together on high speed until well combined.
½ cup unsalted butter, 1½ cups granulated sugar, ⅓ cup vegetable oil
Add the eggs and vanilla extract into the wet mixture and beat until combined.
3 large eggs, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
On low speed, beat half of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Do not overmix – mix just until you no longer see streaks of white flour in the batter.
Add all of the milk and beat on low speed until just combined.
1 cup milk
Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Again, do not overmix.
Pour the cake batter evenly between both prepared cake pans. To ensure even baking time, try to split the mixture equally between both pans (about 615 grams per pan).
Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Let cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes before removing cakes from pans then placing on wire racks to finish cooling. Be sure to let cakes cool completely before the next step.
Once cakes have completely cooled, use a large serrated knife to cut the dome tops off both cakes so they both have a flat top.
Before frosting, cover cakes completely in food-safe plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. You’ll want the cakes to be firm before frosting so that they don’t crumble or tear while spreading frosting.

For the Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. If the frosting seems too thick to spread smoothly onto the cake, beat in a tablespoon of heavy cream.
3½ cups powdered sugar, 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Place a bit of frosting (about 2 tablespoons spread thin) on a cake board or cake plate then place one cake (cut side facing up) on top of that frosting. This thin layer of frosting helps prevent the cake from sliding off the cake board or cake plate while you’re decorating it.
Add a generous layer of frosting on top of that first layer then place the second layer (bottom facing up) on top of the first layer. You’ll now have a two-layer cake.
Frost a thin layer of frosting around the top and sides of the cake. This first layer of frosting is called the “crumb coat”. This crumb coat is meant to secure all the crumbs to the cake so you don’t have crumbs showing in your final layer. To get the layers of frosting smooth, use a tool like a cake scraper to smooth the icing out.
Place the lightly frosted cake in the freezer for 10 minutes so the crumb coat hardens up a bit before frosting the final layer.
Remove cake from freezer and frost the cake with the final layer of white frosting. Spread this layer as smoothly as you can using the cake scraper or angled offset spatula.
Place about ⅓ cup of white frosting (make sure it’s an easily spreadable consistency) in each of 3 small bowls (each bowl will have ⅓ cup of frosting). Use gel food coloring to color one black, one blue, and one red. Place each of these colored frostings into tipless piping bags. Cut a small hole at the tip of each bag. You don’t want the hole too small or it will be hard to use it for straight lines. You also don’t want it too big that you’re unable to make lines and print with it.
Gel food coloring
Start by making blue lines – you can use a ruler to make sure the lines are evenly spread apart. Then do the red margin line. Then use the black to do the printing.

Notes

For a gluten-free Letter to Santa cake, replace the all-purpose flour with an equal amount of gluten-free 1:1 baking flour.
If using salted butter, omit the kosher salt.
In place of the vegetable oil, you can use canola, avocado, or (melted) coconut oil.
You can use any milk you have on hand, including plant-based milk.
In place of the heavy cream, you can use half-and-half.
Use the spoon-and-level method to measure the flour to ensure the cake will not be dry.
Do not overmix the batter; otherwise, your cake will come out tough and dry.
Rotate the cakes halfway through baking to ensure they bake evenly.
Let the cakes chill for at least 2 hours before frosting them.
Use a very small piping tip (or cut a very small hole) to write on the cake more legibly.
If you're nervous about writing, print out your message on paper and trace it with frosting a few times to practice!

Storage: Store Letter to Santa cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Nutrition