High Altitude Snickerdoodle Cake

One of my favorite cake recipes is for this high altitude snickerdoodle cake. Just the aroma of the butter, cinnamon and sugar is intoxicating! This is a buttermilk cake with butter and cream cheese in the batter, for a rich, moist and dense cake that’s somewhere between a cake and a cookie. It’s frosted with cinnamon vanilla bean buttercream and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, and has become a favorite cake with everyone who tastes it. This cake deserves to be made again and again, especially in the fall.

Looking for more snickerdoodle recipes? You’ll love these high altitude snickerdoodle cookies, snickerdoodle muffins, brown sugar cinnamon layer cake, and no churn cinnamon ice cream.

This post was originally written in May 2014, updated in November 2021.

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The Flavor of Snickerdoodles in a Cake

So before we get into making this snickerdoodle cake, let’s talk about snickerdoodle cookies. Snickerdoodles are soft, chewy, sweet and spicy cookies that are coated in cinnamon and sugar. They taste like butter, cinnamon and vanilla. They’re also tangy, from the addition of the leavening agent, cream of tartar. That tanginess is what sets them apart from every other cookie, giving them their own unique flavor.

Snickerdoodles have been around since the 1800s, and their name is half the fun (the other half being how fun and delicious they are to eat). They are likely Dutch or German in origin, and their name may have come from the German word Schneckennudeln, which roughly translates as “crinkly cookies”. Or maybe it was just a fun and silly word that someone made up!

To get as much snickerdoodle flavor into today’s cake as possible, of course there’s plenty of butter, sugar and cinnamon. There’s also buttermilk, which is rich and sour, and perfectly emulates the tangy flavor of the cream of tartar. This is also a more dense cake, almost like a pound cake, so you really feel like you’re eating a snickerdoodle cookie but in a delicious soft cake.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

To emulate that tangy essence of snickerdoodle cookies, I knew that my recipe for snickerdoodle cake needed to be made with buttermilk. Buttermilk is acidic and tangy, and it’s the perfect ingredient to both flavor the cake and give it a beautiful texture and soft crumb.

I make this high altitude cake using the standard creaming method. First, I cream together softened butter and cream cheese (which also adds more snickerdoodle flavor) with granulated sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Then, I add in the eggs and vanilla.

For the dry ingredients, I sift cake flour together with baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Then I add the dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk.

Because this is essentially a pound cake, you can expect your cake layers to be tender, rich, moist, with a velvety crumb that’s a little dense.

Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Buttercream

The buttercream on this cake is spiced with quite a bit of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg and salt, and real vanilla bean, although you can use vanilla bean paste also. It’s fluffy and creamy, cinnamony and sweet, and complements the cake perfectly.

An extra sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar on top of the cake adds that cookie essence, since snickerdoodles are always coated in cinnamon-sugar before they’re baked.

TIP: If you found my original snickerdoodle cake on Pinterest (pictured further down in the post), you’ll notice that cake was a shorter, 3-layer, 8-inch cake. I’ve since updated the photos with a taller, 4-layer, 6-inch cake. You can make either version with the amount of batter in this recipe.

Instructions

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350.  Prepare four 6-inch round cake pans (or three 8-inch round pans) by spraying the bottoms only with non-stick spray.
• 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, 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.

TIP: 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, or freeze for several months.

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.
• 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.
• Arrange the Pirouettes around the sides of the cake. For a shorter 8-inch cakes, you can cut the Pirouettes in half. For a taller 6-inch cake, keep the Pirouettes whole.
• If desired, fit a piping bag with tip 1M to pipe a rosette on top of the cake, then sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

My Original Snickerdoodle Cake Design

When I first made this cake, I placed Pirouette Cookies all around the sides of the cake, piped buttercream roses on top with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar, and wrapped the whole thing up with a ribbon. People loved this design. I’ve seen so many re-creations over the years with the Pirouettes and the ribbon and rosettes. People have told me how they made this cake for weddings and birthdays and Mother’s Days, and it’s a cake that has become beloved by so many of their friends and family. I love that my cake has been a part of so many special celebrations. I’ve even heard from someone who made this cake to sell at a charity auction, where it sold for $2700!!

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still make this recipe if I don’t live at high altitude?

You can make it with a few adjustments for lower altitude. This article has good guidelines on how to adjust recipes for various altitudes.

Is this supposed to be a dense or fluffy cake?

This is a more dense cake that’s very moist and rich, somewhat like a pound cake.

What tip did you use to pipe the roses?

Tip 1M.

What can I substitute for the buttermilk?

If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own sour milk with 1 cup of whole milk + 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

How many Pirouettes will I need?

For a taller 6-inch cake, one can isn’t enough, so definitely get two cans. For a shorter 8-inch cake, you can cut the Pirouettes in half, so one can will be enough.

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