Snickerdoodle Cake
Baking Notes:
In addition to letting your butter and cream cheese soften to room temperature so that you can easily cream them with the sugar, you should let all your dairy ingredients (including eggs and buttermilk) warm up to room temperature, which makes for a better cake batter.
You can (and I have) make this cake using all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, however, the cake flour makes a much lighter and more tender cake that is just heavenly.
If you don't have buttermilk, pour 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar into a liquid measuring cup, then add whole milk up to the 1 cup line. Warm in the microwave on high for one minute to curdle the milk. You don't need to let it cool, and can add it to your batter while it's warm.
For other decorating ideas for this cake, see my original post for Snickerdoodle Cake.
Note that I live at high altitude (5,000 feet), so my recipes are created for high altitude. Don't let that deter you from trying them if you live at sea level! Please be sure to review this post and this post for all my baking tips and FAQs before baking.
Snickerdoodle Cake
Cake.
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup whole buttermilk
Buttercream.
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon meringue powder (optional)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
2-4 tablespoons milk or cream, if needed
cinnamon and sugar, for sprinkling on top (1 tablespoon granulated sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
Getting Started.
Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare three 8-inch round pans by spraying the bottoms only with non-stick spray. Note that for the cake in this post, I wanted a very tall cake to decorate, so I baked the batter in three 6-inch pans, and split each cake for a total of 6 layers.
Cake.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and sugars for 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down and beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for a full minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour; mix just until combined.
Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out with moist crumbs but not batter. Set the pans on wire racks, cover loosely with clean kitchen towels, and cool completely before frosting. (The cake can also be made one day ahead of time; keep fresh and moist by cooling in the pans for one hour, then turning out the warm cakes onto pieces of plastic wrap. Wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap and assemble/frost/decorate the following day.)
Buttercream.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and vanilla bean seeds/paste for one minute. In a separate bowl, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, then with the mixer on low, add by spoonfuls to the butter until mostly combined. Add the milk or cream and whip on medium high, scraping the bowl down occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Assembly.
Stack the cakes, filling them with a ¼ inch thick layer of buttercream between each. Frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream, then chill for 15 minutes before frosting all over with a final layer of buttercream. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Yields 15-20 servings
Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen