Peppermint and Chocolate Candy Cane Cake is alternating red velvet cake and vanilla cake shaped like a candy cane with peppermint frosting. Festive and fun for the holidays!
“Peppermint, but only a little. Chocolate, but a lot.”
These were my instructions, from my aforementioned friend at school who gives me her family’s homemade curry for a baked good of her choosing. I love this deal because her curry is the BOMB dot com, and I get to bake stuff. Win-win. Win. (Because I feel like it is just such a good deal that there should be an extra win in there. maybe that win is for you. You are winning because now I’m sharing this recipe with you.)
So this Candy Cane Cake is slightly bigger than our trades normally are, but it’s because she gave me two kinds of curry and it’s the holidays, and the holiday spirit just made me in the mood.
It started as just a chocolate cake with peppermint frosting (see above quote). But then she remembered her parents prefer vanilla cake. And then if there’s going to be vanilla wouldn’t it be cool if the rest was red. And oh cool, why don’t we just make it candy cane shaped with each stripe either vanilla or red velvet cake, corresponding to the color of the stripe? Yeah cool.
Over-the-top baked goods are my favorite and that’s probably why I’m friends with this girl.
In case you want a breakdown of how I made this Candy Cane Cake:
1. Bake 1 9×13 pan of vanilla cake and 1 9×13 pan of red velvet cake.
2. Draw candy cane on parchment paper and cut out the strips.
3. Put the strips on the cake and cut out the shapes.
4. Place in candy cane shape.
5. Frost.
6. Eat.
This Candy Cane Cake would probably be a pretty good cake if you’re hosting a Christmas party this holiday season. Or you want a super elaborate baked gift for someone. Or if your friend gives you curry and you feel like you should reciprocate. It’s really an all-purpose cake.
-Audrey
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PinIngredients
Candy Cake Cake:
- 1 9×13 red velvet cake
- 1 9×13 vanilla cake
- 1 batch candy cane frosting
- Red food coloring
Red Velvet Cake
- 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
- 1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Vanilla Cake
- 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package plain white cake mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Candy Cane Frosting
- 2 1/2 stick butter, softened to room temperature
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup crushed candy cane (like, a very fine powder)
- 1 teaspoon peppemrint extract
- 2–3 tablespoons (or more) milk
Instructions
Make the red velvet cake:
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper.
- Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Make the vanilla cake:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Place cake mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla in mixing bowl. Blend with mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop machine, scrape down sides of bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Scrape down sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined and thickened.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.
Make the candy cane frosting:
- Beat butter until light and fluffy.
- On low speed, beat in the powdered sugar and candy canes.
- When that is all incorporated, add the peppermint extract and the amount of milk you desire to reach the consistency you want. Then increase the speed and beat a little longer until fluffy.
Assemble the candy cane cake:
- Draw out your desired size and shape of candy cane and cut out the stripes. Cut them out of the cakes and place in the candy cane shape. If they have trouble staying in the shape, put them together with frosting.
- Then frost the vanilla cake pieces with plain candy cane frosting. Reserve a little bit of the remaining frosting for final touch-ups, but then dye the remaining frosting red and frosting the red velvet cake chunks. Touch up the edges between the two colors. Eat!