This Christmas tree cake is a stunning dessert to bring to any holiday party! It’s super versatile— you can make any cake flavor, filling, and frosting you want. Plus, you can use all sorts of different sprinkles and icings to decorate your tree!
If you need some inspiration, I used my baking mix company’s Spiced Yellow Cake Mix, layered in my simple cherry jam, and decorated with homemade Swiss meringue buttercream and holiday sprinkles. So easy and so delicious!
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Tutorial
- It’s easy to make! I baked my cake batter in a 15″x11″ jelly roll pan, then used round cookie cutters to cut out 4 tiers of the cake. Feel free to use any round cookie cutter sizes you want and make as many small or big trees as you’d like!
- It’s extremely versatile. You can use any cake, filling, and frosting recipe. Plus, you can decorate it with different sprinkles, mini cookies, and icing!
- The cake is a great centerpiece. It’s SO stunning and beautiful—the perfect addition to any tablescape.
Looking for more holiday recipes? Try out my Christmas tree brownies!
Ingredients
Making a Christmas tree cake from scratch requires three different components: the cake, filling, and frosting/decorations! You can use any recipes you’d like, but if you need any inspiration, here’s what I used:
For the cake layers:
- I used a Spiced Yellow Cake Mix from my baking mix company, Oh So Easy! It comes with a cake mix and cardamom syrup.
- Like many other cake mix brands out there, all you need to add are some eggs, oil, and water.
For the filling:
- I made a classic cherry jam. You can use either fresh or frozen cherries for this recipe. If using fresh cherries, wash, and remove the pits and stems before cooking.
- We’ll be using both lemon juice and lemon zest in this recipe, which will balance out the sweetness of the cherries quite nicely.
For the frosting and decorations:
- I made my Swiss meringue buttercream recipe, which is 1 part egg whites : 2 parts sugar : 3 parts butter by weight!
- You can use any flavoring, like vanilla or almond extract.
- If dying the meringue different colors, I recommend gel food coloring over liquid, because just a few drops go a very long way!
- I used an assorted mix of sprinkles: gold pearl sprinkles, shimmery white sprinkles (that look like snow!), and Christmas sprinkles.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tip
- Make sure your equipment is very clean and dry before making the meringue! If there are any traces of fat or grease on your bowls or whisk, the egg whites will not whip up well. For extra precaution, feel free to wipe down your equipment with some white vinegar, then dry well.
How to Make A Christmas Tree Cake
Step 1: Make cherry jam. Combine all cherry jam ingredients in a large saucepan (Image 1). Gently boil 15–25 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom and sides often, until it cooks down and thickens. To test for doneness, drag a spatula across the bottom—if it leaves a clear trail that fills in after 1–2 seconds, it’s ready. Transfer to a container to cool (Image 2).
Step 2: Make Swiss meringue. Whisk together egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until it reaches 160°F/71°C, about 5 minutes (Image 3). Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and whip on medium-high speed (Image 4).
Step 3: Make Swiss meringue buttercream. Whip the meringue to thick, fluffy, room-temperature stiff peaks, about 15–20 minutes (Image 5). Meanwhile, you can start the cake.
Switch to the paddle attachment and add 1 tablespoon of softened butter at a time. Add flavoring and salt, then mix until smooth and silky, about 10-15 minutes (Image 6). If it curdles or looks grainy, this is normal! Just keep mixing.
If it still doesn’t come together, gently warm the bowl over simmering water to slightly melt the outer edge of the buttercream, then rewhip until smooth.
Step 4: Bake cake layers and fill. Bake your cake in a lined jelly roll pan or standard sheet pan, depending on the recipe. I used a Spiced Yellow Cake Mix, which fit perfectly in a jelly roll pan.
Use circle cutters to cut out the tiers (Image 7), then stack them with your filling—mine had layers of Swiss meringue buttercream and cherry jam (Image 8).
Step 5: Decorate. Dye Swiss meringue buttercream with green gel food coloring. I used a mix of green, blue, and black to achieve this shade.
Transfer buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star tip, and pipe on leaves (Image 9). Decorate with holiday sprinkles and a star (Image 10). Enjoy!
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
Storage
Store cake in a box or plastic cake carrier in the fridge for up to 5 days. When ready to eat, let it sit at room temperature for about an hour so the buttercream softens.
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Christmas Tree Cake
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Equipment
- Large saucepan for cherry jam
- medium saucepan for double boiler
- medium bowl heatproof
- Stand mixer both whisk and paddle attachment needed
- Round cookie cutters 6", 4", 3", 2"
Ingredients
Cherry Jam:
- 1 ½ pounds (680.39 g) cherries fresh or frozen, pits and stems removed
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon (3 g) lemon zest 1 small lemon
- 1 ½ tablespoons (22.5 g) lemon juice 1 small lemon
Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 5 (150 g) egg whites
- 1 1/2 cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter room temperature, cut into tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla paste or extract; can use any flavoring
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt
- gel food coloring
Cake Layers:
- 1 box (1 box) Spiced Yellow Cake Mix
- ½ cup (118.29 g) water
- ¼ cup (54.5 g) vegetable oil
- 3 (150 g) eggs
Instructions
Make the Cherry Jam:
- The cherry jam recipe yields more than you need for the cake, so save leftover jam for breakfast or other desserts! 🙂
- In a large saucepan, stir together all of your ingredients: 1 ½ pounds cherries, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ tablespoon lemon zest, and 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice.
- Turn the heat to medium and stir. Gently boil for 15-25 minutes, scraping the bottom + sides of the pan often. It will be really liquidy at first, then cook down and thicken.
- To test for doneness, drag a spatula across the bottom of the pan. If it leaves a clear trail that slowly fills in after 1–2 seconds, the jam is ready. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Tips: For a smoother texture, blend the jam with an immersion blender while it’s still warm.If it becomes too thick after cooling, stir in a splash of water.
Make the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Tip: Make sure your hand whisk, stand mixer bowl, and whisk attachment are completely clean and grease-free. Any trace of fat will prevent the meringue from whipping properly. For extra insurance, wipe everything down with white vinegar and dry thoroughly.
- In your medium bowl, whisk together 5 egg whites and 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar until combined.
- Fill a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Place medium bowl with egg whites and sugar on top, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk constantly, scraping the sides and bottom, until the mixture reaches 160°F/71°C—about 5 minutes. It will look thick at first, then thin out and eventually turn an off-white.
- Carefully transfer the mixture into your stand mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until you get room temperature, stiff, glossy peaks, about 15 minutes. During this step, you can make your cake.If it’s taking longer than expected, place the bowl in the fridge for 5-10 minutes, then whip again.
- If the meringue is still warm, let it cool before continuing—adding butter too early will make it soupy.
- Replace whisk attachment with paddle attachment. While mixing on medium speed, add the 2 cups unsalted butter one tablespoon at a time. Scrape bowl as needed using silicone spatula.
- Once all the butter is incorporated, mix in 1 tablespoon vanilla and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt.
- Continue beating mixture until it is smooth and silky. If the buttercream curdles or is grainy, that is completely normal. Keep mixing for another 10-15 minutes and it should smooth out. If the buttercream doesn't smooth out, place the mixing bowl over a simmering pot to let just the edges of the meringue warm up and slightly melt. Rewhip and it should come together!
- Dye green using gel food coloring. To get the shade I did, I used a mixture of green, blue, and black dyes. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip.
Bake Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C. Line jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, use hand whisk to mix ½ cup water, ¼ cup vegetable oil, and 3 eggs until combined. Add 1 box Spiced Yellow Cake Mix and whisk until no dry spots remain.
- Pour batter onto jelly roll pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely, about 45 minutes.
Assemble Christmas tree cake:
- Use round cookie cutters to cut out your tiers. I decorated two tree cakes, and was able to cut two of each size: 6-inch, 4-inch, 3-inch, 2 ½-inch, and 2-inch circles.
- Now it is time to stack the cake layers from largest to smallest, adding your filling(s) between each tier. Here's how I did mine:Starting with the largest layer, brush on the cardamom simple syrup from the cake mix. Spread a thin layer of buttercream, pipe a buttercream dam around the edge, and spoon cherry jam into the center. Place the next layer on top and repeat.
- Pipe green buttercream on the entire outside of the cake for the tree leaves. Decorate with gold pearl sprinkles, shimmery white sprinkles, Christmas sprinkles, and a mini star topper.
- Enjoy!
