Winter Onederland Birthday Cake
This winter onederland cake combines soft vanilla cake layers, thick whipped coconut frosting, and a simple piped snowman decoration into one adorable winter-themed dessert. It stays moist and fluffy while the frosting keeps the finish light instead of overly rich. This cake is ideal for winter birthdays, holiday gatherings, and cozy family celebrations.
Servings: 18
Calories: 260kcal
Ingredients
Cake
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups buttermilk
Icing
- 2 cans coconut cream refrigerate overnight
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- brown food coloring
- pink food coloring
- orange food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Line two 6 inch round cake tins with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl mix together the oil, vanilla extract and buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Make sure to not overmix it.
- Divide the batter between the prepared cake tins.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool completely before decorating.
- When cakes have chilled completely, level off the top of each cake.
- Place the chilled thick coconut cream (discard any coconut water), vanilla and sugar into a mixing bowl and whip with a stand mixer, or electric hand mixer, until thick and fluffy.
- Separate the icing in half. One half will remain white while the remaining icing will be separated into 1 medium bowl and 2 smaller bowls. Colour each bowl with food colouring making sure you have a large amount coloured in pink.
- Start by adding a layer of white icing as the cake filling, to one layer of cake. Smooth into an even layer. Top with the other cake layer. Cover the cake in remaining white icing, smoothing all over. Note: Leave a small amount or white icing to use to decorate the snowman's hat.
- Using the pink icing, pipe around the base of the cake. Next pipe the snowman’s hat and small flowers around the side of the cake.
- Next pipe the eyes and mouth with the brown icing. Add a “carrot” nose and finish off any final details.
- Store in the fridge for 2 hours before serving.
Notes
- My #1 Secret Tip for this Winter Onederland cake recipe is to refrigerate the coconut cream for a full 24 hours before whipping it. In my experience, coconut cream that has not fully chilled stays too soft and loose for piping clean decorations onto the cake. Once properly chilled, the thick cream separates from the liquid and whips into a much sturdier frosting with a smoother texture.
- Cool completely: I never frost the cake while it is still warm, or the coconut cream starts melting immediately. This cake requires planning and cannot be made at the last minute.
- Mix gently: I keep a light hand when combing my batter, as overmixing overworks the gluten and the cake texture ends up heavy and dense.
- Crumb layer first: Adding a very thin layer of frosting over the entire cake before the actual frosting layer helps catch stray crumbs and ensures that your outer layer is smooth and clean.
- Freeze layers briefly: If the cake layers feel extra soft, I place them in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before decorating. Slightly chilled cake layers are much easier to frost.
- Avoid watery coloring: Gel-based natural food coloring works much better than liquid coloring since extra liquid can thin out the frosting too much and even cause it to split.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 260kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 76mg | Potassium: 260mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g