Snowman Cake to Share Some Christmas Cheer

There’s no better way to celebrate Christmas than with this adorable snowman cake. 

Christmas music is playing everywhere, Christmas decorations and cookies are out in full swing, and Frosty the Snowman is here too, so why not make a snowman cake that’ll share the Christmas cheer. 

This Snowman cake is made of fluffy vanilla cake layers filled with creamy vanilla buttercream and cute fondant decorations. 

I’ll show you the exact steps it takes to make this snowman cake at home. For example, the snowman top hat is made with Rice Krispie treats wrapped in fondant, which is an insanely delicious surprise. If you have young kids, they will love making this cake with you. The fondant is just like edible playdough or clay, so they can make the coal eyes or carrot noses and have so much fun! 

You can make any cake recipe or buttercream recipe you would like. The snowman decorations will look good on any cake recipe.

Tips for Success: 

• Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
• A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three 8-inch cake layers.
• In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own. 
• To make cake flour at home, mix 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. Sift or whisk together to get rid of any lumps. 
• Be careful not to overmix this cake batter, or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
• You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze up to one month. 
• You can make the buttercream a day ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping.
• If you want to get ahead, you can make the fondant decorations up to one week in advance and store onto a parchment-lined baking tray until ready to use. 
• If fondant gets too sticky, then use cornstarch or if it’s cracking, then use vegetable shortening to smooth out fondant. 
• Serve at room temperature and use a hot knife to get clean cake slices! 

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake: 

• 5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl & paddle attachment
• 3, 6-inch cake pans or 2, 8-inch cake pans
• Offset spatula
• 8-inch or 10-inch white cake board 
• Serrated knife or cake leveler 
• Turntable 
• Cake scraper or bench scraper
• Whisk or sifter
• Rubber Spatula
• Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
• Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
• Piping Bags (I use reusable silicone bags)
• Cake Stand, optional
• 6-8 Rice Krispies Treats, squares
• Black Fondant
• Red Fondant
• Green Fondant
• Orange Fondant
• Silicone mat 
• Small Fondant Rolling Pin
• 18-gauge covered wire or long skewer
• Wire cutters, optional
• X-acto knife 
• Circle cutters
• (Clay) Molding Tools 
• Small paintbrushes
• Vegetable shortening & cornstarch
• Parchment paper lined baking tray

Here’s how to make this adorable snowman cake that’s perfect for home bakers! 

Let’s Get Decorating! 

Cute Snowman Fondant Decorations

1. On a silicone mat, press two rice Krispies treats side by side tightly to form one block. Repeat creating two more blocks. 
2. With two blocks, cut a 4-inch circle and one into a 3-inch circle. Stack the rice Krispies circle on top of each other with the small circle on the bottom. 
3. Press and squeeze the rice Krispies treats together, forming a tapered top hat for the snowman. After you have created the hat’s shape, then place it on top of a piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top of a cardboard cake board or small plate. 
4. Frost a thin layer of frosting (or chocolate ganache) all over the top hat and smooth out the frosting as much as you can. Place the top hat into the freeze or refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes. 
5. On a clean silicone mat, knead and roll out 6 ounces of black fondant to ¼ inch. Carefully cut a 4 ½ inch circle (or something larger than the top of the hat) and place it on top of the cold hat. Use a fondant smoother to smooth the fondant on the top hat. 
6. Use the x-acto knife to cut off the overhang edges.  
7. Re-knead and roll out the black fondant into a 10 inch long by 4-inch wide strip. Then cut the top, sides, and bottom of the strip creating clean lines before wrapping the top hat with the long strip of fondant. 
8. Use the fondant smoother to smooth out the sides of the top hat. Use the x-acto knife to cut a clean back seam. Trim up the edges. 
9. Cut a lone strip of fondant 1 inch wide to be the brim of the cake. Add the brim to sit at the bottom of the hat and attach it with a little bit of water. 
10. On the silicone mat, knead and roll the green fondant into a long ½ inch wide strip that’ll be the belt on the hat. Attach with water. 
11. With the green fondant, cut out two small leaves and use the molding tools to add veins to create holly leaves. 
12. With red fondant, roll 3 small balls as the red berries for the holly leaves. 
13. Attach the red berries, and holly leaves to the green belt on the top hat. Set the hat aside to dry for 2 hours to overnight. 
14. With the black fondant, roll two 1 inch pieces into pieces of coal for the snowman’s eyes. The more imperfect and creased, the better for coal. Roll 7 small pieces of coal for the snowman’s mouth. 
15. With orange fondant, knead and roll into a long cone shape. Insert a wire or long skewer into the cone halfway. Then adjust the cone to look like a carrot with a slightly crooked slant and add lines on top to create the carrot’s details. 
16. Set aside to dry on a parchment-lined baking tray for 2 hours to overnight.  

How to Make Fluffy Vanilla Cake 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 
3. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
5. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated. 
6. Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
7. Evenly distribute the cake batter among the three cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
8. Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour. 

How to Make Creamy Vanilla Buttercream 

1. In the stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer to low and add the salt and vanilla. 
3. Next, gradually add powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Mix on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
4. Before using, turn the mixer on low and mix for 2 minutes to push out any air bubbles or use a rubber spatula to push out the air bubbles. (You may need to repeat this step when frosting the outside of the cake). 

Putting It All Together 

1. Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the cakes’ dome to make the layers flat and even. 
2. Add a small amount of buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer one cake layer, cut side up onto the cake board. Pipe ⅔ cup of buttercream and use an offset spatula to smooth the buttercream layer.  
3. Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for another layer — Crumb coat with white buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes. 
4. Add a thicker layer of buttercream to the cold cake. Use an offset spatula and cake scraper to make the sides and the top as smooth as possible. 
5. Add the snowman top hat to the top of the cake. On the side of the cake, add the coal eyes, the carrot nose, and 7 pieces of black coal for the mouth. 
6. On the silicone mat, knead and roll out red fondant to ¼ inch thick. Then cut a 1 inch wide long stripe of fondant as the snowman’s scarf. 
7. Then add the red fondant to the bottom of the cake and style as a scarf. 
8. Serve the cake at room temperature and Enjoy it! 

You May Also Enjoy: 

• How to Make Perfect Cake Pops (free training) 
• How to Cut & Serve Cake (free guide)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)

I’m so excited to see your adorable Snowman Cake creations. Please feel free to email me here at xokatierosario@gmail.com with any questions you may have; I’ll be happy to help! 

Happy Holidays! 

P.S. Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out Cake Decorating for Beginners, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation so that you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there! 

Watch The How-to Video Below:

 

Pin it! Save it for later! 

0