This Snickerdoodle Cake is a cinnamon lover's dream come true. It has two layers of soft cinnamon cake with cinnamon sugar swirls, filled with a cinnamon brown sugar buttercream and broken up vegan snickerdoodle cookies! Best yet, this cake is gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be vegan!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and line two 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the swirl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk of choice, light brown sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla.
Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together. If it gets too thick, switch to a spatula.
Using an ice cream scoop, place 4 scoops of batter into one of the cake pans. Repeat with the second cake pan. Smooth the tops.
Sprinkle one tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture all over the top of the batter in one of the pans. Repeat with the other pan.
Using a butter knife, gently swirl the cinnamon sugar all around the batter in each cake pan and then smooth the tops.
Using an ice cream scoop, place an additional 3 scoops of batter in one of the pans. Repeat with the second pan.
Gently use a butter knife to smooth the tops. You don’t want to see the cinnamon sugar. This step is crucial to making sure your cakes do not collapse.
Bake the cakes in the center rack of the oven for 35 minutes until slightly springy when carefully poked.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10-15 min and then let cool on a wire cooling rack.
Once the cakes have cooled completely, slice thin layers off the top of the cakes so you have nice flat surfaces.
While the cakes are baking, make the frosting.
For the frosting:
In a large bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand held mixer, beat the butter or vegan baking stick, the light brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
Add in the vanilla and beat until combined.
Slowly add in half the confectioners’ sugar and half water and beat until smooth.
Add in the second half of confectioners’ sugar and water and beat until combined, creamy and smooth.
Assembling the cake:
Separate the frosting into 3 equal sections.
Place one layer of cake on a cake plate or stand. Scoop ⅓ of the buttercream (about 1 cup) on top and use an icing spatula to spread it around.
Place ⅓ of the frosting in a piping bag. Pipe a ring around the outside edge of the cake. This is to prevent the cookies from falling out. There will be extra frosting in the piping bag. Save it for decorating.
Sprinkle chunks of gluten free snickerdoodles on top of the buttercream, in the center of the ring and gently press to make sure they stick. I used two packages of small cookies, which equals 4 normal size cookies.
Place the second cake bottom (or flat) side up so that the top is nice and flat.
Use an icing spatula to frost the top and a thin layer on the sides and a cake scraper to neaten up the frosting. You should only use ⅓ of the frosting on both the top and sides combined. This is a semi naked cake.
Decorating the cake:
Use extra frosting in the piping bag to create swirls going all the way around the top rim of the cake.
Place extra snickerdoodle cookies around the piped swirls and also in the center of the cake. I used about 9 mini cookies around the edge and 5 in the center of the cake.
Video
Notes
Storing- Store extra slices wrapped in foil in the fridge for up to 2 days. Warm in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.Freezing- Freeze extra slices wrapped in foil in a zip top bag for up to 30 days. Place in fridge overnight to thaw.