This Christmas wreath cake is the perfect centerpiece during the holiday season. This simple and easy recipe uses my butter-based vanilla bean cake along with French buttercream and stiff buttercream for piping the wreath.
Table of Content
Can you believe this year comes to an end? Soon, it will be Christmas. Honestly, I am happy. It has been an extremely difficult year for so many people. I am looking forward to Christmas, although we won't have many family visits. The Christmas decorations and the kids' excitement over Santa kinda help keep the mood positive.
Why make this wreath cake
- This is a butter-based cake with white sugar and sour cream. It has a nice rich, butter flavor. And, the sour cream gives this cake a lovely soft tender crumb.
- In addition, the process of this cake is very simple and easy. I use the traditional method of creaming butter and sugar, followed by eggs and the rest of the ingredients.
- However, you can also use other cake recipes for this wreath. For example, try my vanilla bean cake, vanilla cream cake, or vanilla birthday cake. See over 50 cake recipes here.
- For the sake of simplicity, below, I have given you my vanilla buttercream frosting recipe. In the video, the white buttercream is my vanilla buttercream and the rest is my French buttercream frosting. And, you can also try eggnog buttercream, Swiss or Italian meringue. In fact, the options for frosting are endless, see all my over 30 buttercream frosting recipes.
- For the piping - you want to make sure you use a stiff consistency buttercream for the holly leaves and berries. So, while the options for frosting are plenty, just make sure to use less liquid in your frosting to keep it more stable for piping.
The timeline for the cake
- Prepare cake batter - 10 minutes
- Bake cake - 35 minutes
- Chill cake - 4 hours at least (preferably overnight)
- Prepare frosting - 15 minutes
- Crumb coat cake - 15 minutes
- Chill cake - 15 minutes
- Second coat - 15 minutes
- Piping - 20 to 30 minutes
Ingredients and substitutes
- All-Purpose flour - Regular all-purpose flour works great. No need to look for anything else. And, if you have only self-raising flour, use it but reduce the baking powder by half.
- Unsalted Butter - I always use unsalted so I can control the amount of salt. But, if salted butter is all you have, use it and omit salt in the recipe.
- Sugar - I have used white sugar today but this works just as well with brown sugar. However, the color of the cake is a bit darker with brown sugar.
- Vanilla extract - A good quality vanilla extract goes a long way in enhancing the flavor of your baked goods.
- Eggs - Use fresh large eggs. Large eggs are about 60 grams each.
- Sour cream - Gives the cake that nice soft tender crumb. Yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream. But, you can also make your own sour cream at home.
How to make a Christmas weath cake
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325F/ 165 C/ Gas Mark 3
- Grease and flour 2 x 7-inch donut pans or one 9-cup bundt pan.
Pro tip - I used one silicon donut pan. This dough can be left out and baked one at a time. - In a bowl, combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, chai spice mix, and salt - and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Then, add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
- Next, add the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions.
- Divide batter equally between the prepared baking pans.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
- Then, cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes. Invert and cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate.
Buttercream
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.
- Next, add salt, fresh cream, and vanilla – mix a minute longer, until well combined.
- Then, add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
- Once all the powder sugar has been incorporated, set aside until ready to use.
- Continue to mix on medium-high for 2 minutes more until you have a light and fluffy buttercream. But, since we need to pipe this buttercream do not over-whip or you will have too many air pockets when piping.
Assemble
- Prepare simple syrup - cool completely before using.
Pro tip - Simple syrup is just sugar water that has been boiled and cooled. Used to keep cake layers moist. - Next, using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the cake layers.
- Then, brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup.
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
- Top with a big dollop of buttercream - spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula.
- Then, top the second cake layer. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.
Pro tip - Chilling the cake at this point will ensure the layers don't move when you frost the outside. However, if you leave the cake uncovered in the fridge for too long it can dry out. So, 10 minutes is all you need. - Spread the remaining buttercream around and on top of the cake.
Pro tip - A straight-edge spatula for the top, an offset spatula, and soft acrylic smother for the sides work better.
Pipe
- Dye the remaining buttercream - make about 1 cup a cherry red color and the remaining a garden green color.
- Next, place the green buttercream in a piping bag with a leaf piping tip and the red in a piping bag with a small round tip no.3 or 4.
- Then, pipe three holly leaves and berries as shown in the video. The piping is very easy and you do not need any special skills. But, you do need patience because it is lots of leave and lots of berries.
Pro tip - I covered the whole cake with holly leaves and berries but you can certainly do just the top half. - Enjoy.
Tip for success
- Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature
- I have used a silicone donut pan but you can also use a bundt pan.
- Keep the buttercream frosting to stiff consistency otherwise the leaves and berries will be too soft to hold shape.
- When necessary place the cake in the fridge to keep the frosting from becoming too soft.
More christmas recipes
- Santa Christmas Tree Cookies Gingerbread
- Christmas MM Cookies
- Christmas Pavlova
- and Christmas Spritz Cookies or Christmas Star Cookies
- Cranberry Cake Christmas
- Stenciled Christmas Sugar Cookies
- See all Christmas recipes and tutorials
Frequently asked questions
How long will this Christmas cake keep?
If frosted with French buttercream, this cake will keep at room temperature for a few hours and in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. And, if frosted with vanilla buttercream this cake will keep at room temperature for 2 days and in the fridge for 5 to 6 days.
How can I make this cake without a donut pan?
If you don't have a donut pan, you can use a bundt pan. Just trim the top and bottom smooth. Then, frost it and it looks like a donut.
Can I make this an eggless cake?
No, this recipe works best with eggs. But, you can use my Eggless Vanilla Cake or Eggless Chocolate Cake to make this cake.
Can I make this a chocolate cake?
I have many tried and tested chocolate cake recipes for you to try. Perhaps use one of these.
One bowl, Devil's food, Chocolate Fudge, Death by chocolate cake,
Classic chocolate cake, chocolate birthday cake,
chocolate ganache cake, Simple Moist Cake chocolate chiffon cake,
Chocolate cake with whipped cream, Gluten-free Chocolate Cake.
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Printable Recipe
Christmas Wreath Cake
Print Pin Rate Share by Email Share on FB Save Grow Coooking Temperature: 325°F/ 165°C / Gas Mark 3
Difficulty: Easy
Calories: 457kcal
Adjust Servings Here: 18 servings
Description
This wreath Christmas cake is the perfect centerpiece during the holiday season. This simple and easy recipe uses my butter-based vanilla bean cake along with French buttercream and stiff buttercream for piping the wreath.
Video
Conversions Used
1 lb = 453 grams, 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 stick = 113g, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 tsp= 5 ml,
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (190 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 6 oz (170 g) Butter (unsalted, room temperature)
- ¾ cup (150 g) Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- ½ cup (120 ml) Sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 12 oz (340 g) Butter (unsalted, room temperature)
- 6 cups (720 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) Whipping cream (32% plus)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Plus
- ½ cup (120 ml) Sugar syrup
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F/ 165°C / Gas Mark 3
- In a bowl, combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, chai spice mix, and salt - and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Next, add the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions.
- Divide batter equally between the prepared baking pans.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
- Cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes. Invert and cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate.
Buttercream
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.
- Add salt, fresh cream, and vanilla – mix a minute longer, until well combined.
- Then, add the powdered sugar one cup at a time.
- Once all the powder sugar has been incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.
- Continue to mix on medium-high for 2 minutes more until you have a light and fluffy buttercream. But, since we need to pipe this buttercream do not overwhip or you will have too many air pockets when piping.
Assemble
- Prepare simple syrup - cool completely before using.Pro tip - Simple syrup is just sugar water that has been boiled and cooled. Used to keep cake layers moist.
- Using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the cake layers.
- Brush each layer with the cooled simple syrup.
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
- Top with a big dollop of buttercream - spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula.
- Then, top the second cake layer. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.Pro tip - Chilling the cake at this point will ensure the layers don't move when you frost the outside. However, if you leave the cake uncovered in the fridge for too long it can dry out. So, 10 minutes is all you need.
- Spread the remaining buttercream around and on top of the cake.Pro tip - A straight-edge spatula for the top, an off-set spatula, and bench scraperssoft acrylic smother for the sides work better.
Pipe
- Dye the remaining buttercream - make about 1 cup a cherry red color and the remaining a garden green color.
- Place the green buttercream in a piping bag with a leaf piping tip and the red in a piping bag with a small round tip no. 3 or 4.
- Pipe three holly leaves and berries as shown in the video. The piping is very easy and you do not need any special skills. But, you do need patience because it is lots of leave and lots of berries. Pro tip - I covered the whole cake with holly leaves and berries but you can certainly do just the top half.
- Enjoy.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 457- kcalCarbohydrates: 61- gProtein: 2- gFat: 24- gSaturated Fat: 15- gCholesterol: 82- mgSodium: 365- mgPotassium: 69- mgFiber: 1- gSugar: 52- gVitamin A: 761- IUVitamin C: 1- mgCalcium: 33- mgIron: 1- mg
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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Charla
All I want to say is that this cake is beyond beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
Anjali
Omg this cake is so gorgeous and festive!! I'm going to try to make this for my family during the holidays - I feel like they will be blown away!
Amy
Nope, I cannot believe it's almost Christmas! I've started planning my menu and I came across this amazing recipe! It looks stunning and I reckon I'd love the eggnog buttercream.
Kathryn
This video is so helpful to make such a beautiful cake. This is going to be perfect for the holidays this year. I've always wanted to try making a wreath cake. Thank you!
adriana
This cake is a work of art, absolutely stunning. I need to sharpen my piping skills, but I want to make it you have inspired me.