Soft and moist snickerdoodle cake is made from delicious vanilla almond cake and fluffy cinnamon buttercream. This extra moist vanilla cake is perfectly balanced with the right amount of cinnamon--just like a snickerdoodle cookie!1x batch yields 1 6" three-layer cake, and a 2x batch yields 1 8" three-layer cake cut out with cake rings using the Cut and Stack Method. Or choose a different pan size by visiting my recommended cake pan chart.
Servings 8slices
Prep Time 40 minutesmins
Cook Time 28 minutesmins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
200 grams (1 ½cups)All-Purpose FlourI use Gold Medal
Preheat Oven to 325 degrees. Line ¼ Sheet pan with parchment paper, and then spray bottom (on top of the parchment) and sides of the sheet pan with cooking spray.
Sift Dry Ingredients in a bowl and then whisk until well blended.
Combine and stir Wet Ingredients in a separate bowl or pitcher.
With a stand mixer (preferred) or handheld mixer, cream sugar and salted butter together until creamy and fluffy. Add oil and corn syrup and beat until incorporated. Add 1egg(s) and cream until well blended, scraping sides of the bowl as needed.
On low speed, alternate adding Dry ingredients and Wet ingredients to the Creamed Ingredients, a little at a time. I do ⅓ Dry, ⅓ Wet, and so on, adding one-third at a time and blending on low after each addition. Continue to mix just until the batter looks well blended and smooth (avoid overbeating). Scrape sides of the bowl as needed.
Using a whip attachment and a clean bowl, whip the 2egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. (Make sure your bowl and beaters are clean and free from grease so that the whites will whip).
Carefully fold the Whipped Whites into the cake batter, one half of the whites at a time. The batter is ready when no egg white streaks remain and it should look smooth and uniform.
Spread into prepared pan and make sure the batter is evenly distributed. An offset spatula works well for this.
Bake on the middle or top rack (avoid bottom rack) of preheated 325-degree oven for 18 minutes, then turn the oven down to 300 degrees. Set the timer for an additional 6-8 minutes. Check the cake at this point. If it is jiggly at all when lightly touching the top of the cake, continue baking for 1-6 more minutes. The cake is done when a paring knife or toothpick comes out mostly clean when stuck quickly in the cake. A couple moist crumbs on your knife are fine, but they shouldn't look wet. Allow to cool completely.
The delicate cake will be easiest to layer from cold or frozen--allow the cake to cool, then thoroughly wrap and freeze the cake in the pan for at least 2 hours or up to 2 weeks ahead of time (brush the cake with simple syrup if freezing for more than a couple of days--see Note # 2).
Make the mini snickerdoodle cookie decorations (optional)
Make 1 teaspoon size balls out of the prepared soft sugar cookie dough. Whisk the cinnamon and sugar together. Roll the cookie dough balls in the cinnamon- sugar mixture, then reshape them into a ball if needed. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon sugar on top of the rolled balls to add extra cinnamon sugar crunch. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 6-7 minutes. You will have extra cookie dough (you only need 6 to 8 tiny snickerdoodles for the top of the cake). The remaining cookie dough can be baked as larger snickerdoodle cookies, if desired. Larger 1-ounce cookies (the same size as these mini sugar cookies) bake for 10 minutes.
Layer, Decorate, and Serve
The easiest way to layer the cake is to layer the cake from frozen the day before you plan to serve it. If serving the cake the same day you are layering it, use refrigerated cake layers instead of frozen. Cut the cake layers with cake rings as described in How to Bake and Layer Cakes Like a Pro. Fill each cake layer with fluffy cinnamon buttercream. An offset icing spatula (I use the small and medium-size on all my cakes) helps with this. I recommend frosting a thin crumb coat of buttercream on the outside of the cake which will catch all the crumby edges, then allow it to set up in the freezer for about 10 minutes until the buttercream is firm. The remaining cake scraps can be used for cake truffles if desired. Drizzle with Simple White Chocolate Ganache Drip, if desired. Decorate the cake with mini snickerdoodle cookies.
Allow the completed cake to set up in the fridge, but remove it from the fridge 2-3 hours before serving so it can come back to room temperature. This cake has the best texture at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
Both Instant Pudding Mix and Instant Clearjel stabilize the batter and make a moister cake with a softer crumb. Instant Pudding contains Instant Clearjel (modified cornstarch) as the 2nd ingredient which is why they work similarly with delicious results. Make sure whichever you use is labeled as INSTANT--cook-type and original clearjel do not work the same as Instant Clearjel.
Simple Syrup is optional, but I use it to seal in the moisture for cakes that will be refrigerated or frozen for more than a couple of days. While the cake cools, make a simple syrup by combining 2 teaspoons water and 2 teaspoons sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until the sugar is dissolved after whisking, about 20-30 seconds. Lightly brush the simple syrup on top of the cake with a silicone pastry brush (you won’t need to use all of it in a 1x batch baked in a ¼ sheet pan). You can also make a larger batch of this (1 part sugar to 1 part water) and keep it in the fridge if you’re doing a lot of cake baking.