I used to think making a snowflake cake had to be complicated. You either were making individual snowflakes out of fondant (like my Winter Wonderland Cake), or using white chocolate to pipe snowflakes one by one (like this beautiful cake by The Preppy Kitchen).

But after experimenting with a few different techniques, I found a super easy way to make a snowflake cake that is just as beautiful, using buttercream! 

For this snowflake cake recipe, I used two techniques. To color the sides of the cake, I used a simple (sterile) makeup sponge to create a marbled blue look.

It creates the perfect winter wonderland background for the snowflakes.

As I experimented with the snowflakes, I was elated when I found a way to make them with buttercream! Even better? You can use the exact same frosting used to fill the cake!! 

To create the snowflakes, I used my American buttercream (plus an extra splash of heavy cream) and a plastic snowflake stencil. Sadly my snowflake stencil isn’t sold on amazon anymore, but here is the link to one that’s very similar.

I’ve seen people use cake stencils before, but most cake stencil tutorials use either royal frosting or an airbrush. Who knew you could use buttercream with cake stencils?! 

Tips For Making This Snowflake Cake

After playing around with buttercream and a cake stencil, I learned a few things! To successfully use buttercream with a cake stencil, I highly recommend:

• Using a chilled cake; the frosting should be firm to the touch
• Thinning your buttercream with extra heavy cream to make it more spreadable; this will help the stencil easily lift up once you’ve covered it in frosting
• Fully covering each cutout on the stencil to ensure the design comes out correctly
• Slowly removing the template, by starting on one side, and slowly peeling it off toward the other.

I also suggest making the components of this cake over a few days! For most of my cakes, I make my layers a couple days in advance. I also make my frosting up to a week in advance.

This helps me enjoy the decoration of the cake a lot more, and makes baking from scratch so much more manageable. 

Speaking of the cake layers, I want to talk about what’s on the inside of this cake!! To give the cake layers the same wintery theme as the rest of the cake, I chose to make ombre blue cake layers.

This cake uses my white velvet cake recipe, plus varying amounts of sky blue gel food coloring to create three different colored layers.

Doubling The Layers, Double The Fun – Torting

To give this cake a bit more surface area on the sides, I chose to make three, eight-inch cake layers. Once the cake layers had baked and cooled, I torted (horizontally cut) each cake layer.

Torting the layers magically turns three, thick cake layers into six, wonderfully thin cake layers.

It’s a bit of extra work to do this, but it makes the cake have the most incredible frosting to cake ratio!! And I think all of you know by now how much a love buttercream frosting.

I usually use a serrated knife to trim and torte my cake layers. This is the knife I use – I ordered on amazon and have had it for a couple years!

Trimming the cake layers isn’t mandatory, but I find it helps those vibrant colors shine through when the cake is cut into. It also makes it way easier to build a level, straight cake!

Snowflake Cake Technique #1: Painting On Buttercream

Once the cake is assembled and frosted, place the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes to allow the frosting to firm up.

This allows you to paint on the chilled buttercream with a gel food coloring mixture! If you want to learn more about painting on buttercream cakes, you can watch my in-depth tutorial here.

As the cake chills, make your edible “paint” by mixing together 2 tsp of vodka (or any clear extract like lemon or almond extract) with a drop of sky blue gel food coloring.

Using vodka or an extract helps the mixture dry more quickly, due to the high alcohol content. It also helps thin out the gel food coloring, which is too concentrated to be painted directly onto a cake by itself. 

Use a fresh sponge to dab the mixture on the side of the cake. Gradually work around the cake, letting the “paint” dry. 

Layer additional coloring onto the cake, to create shading. If the frosting begins to soften during this process, place it back into the freezer for a couple minutes.

Snowflake Cake Technique #2: Using Buttercream With A Cake Stencil

After the sides of the cake are painted, pop the cake into the fridge or freezer for another 5 minutes. 

Thin 1/2 cup of leftover buttercream with one additional Tbsp of heavy cream. Carefully secure the snowflake template around the cake using either toothpicks or pins.

If your template doesn’t have holes in it, you can use an x-acto blade to cut tiny holes on each side of the template. 

Spread the thinned buttercream over the snowflake stencil, fully covering each cutout with a thin layer of frosting.

Holding the template in place, remove the toothpicks, and slowly peel away the template. 

Color any remaining frosting blue, and pipe swirls (using a Wilton 1M frosting tip) on top of the cake. If desired, add a ring of sprinkles inside the frosting swirls on top of the cake.

To get super clean slices of cake, I run my knife under hot water before cut it! I also cut the cake when it’s still slightly chilled, so that each slice keeps its shape.

Making This Snowflake Cake in Advance and Storage Tips

• Make your cake layers in advance and freeze them. It breaks the process up and make it more approachable.
• Make your frosting ahead of time too or save any leftover frosting! It can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to a month. Be sure to give it a good stir once it thaws to get the consistency nice and smooth again.
• A frosted cake can last in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. The frosting locks in all the moisture, keeping the cake fresh and delicious!
• If you cut into the cake and have leftovers, use any remaining frosting to cover the cut section to keep it moist and store in the fridge for up to a week.

Let Me Know What You Think!

If you try this snowflake cake recipe, please tag me @chelsweets and use the #chelsweets so I can see your beautiful creations!!

Also leave a comment below and/or a rating to let me know your thoughts.

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