Christmas Surprise Cake 圣诞惊喜蛋糕

My first attempt at a Christmas surprise cake. Boy, what was I thinking? The number of steps needed was enough to make Santa proud of me. I felt like I was in a Masterchef competition! But all being said, the cake turned out fine and I do believe I would get better and faster with subsequent cakes. And it is also possible to make two of these at one go, thus saving work.

I wanted this cake to be a Christmas gift. The idea of a surprise in a cake has been bugging me ever since I saw it in Pinterest. This cake did turn out like what I envisioned. There were little details that I would probably improvise in my next endeavour. I would probably give the sprinkles a miss since it did not stand out that much. I would most probably try fondant for frosting. Lastly, I want a bigger tree to let Christmas shine!

The whole idea of this cake is to incorporate an element of surprise. In order to do that, you must have a cake within a cake. I made my vanilla cake from scratch. This recipe is super delicious and moist. It has been my go-to recipe for cakes or cupcakes. But feel free to buy your choice of cake mixes if you want a quick fuss-free alternative. After all, today we are more focused on assembling the surprise in the cake.

Christmas Surprise Cake 圣诞惊喜蛋糕

Step 1: The Christmas Tree 

180 g cake flour
115 g butter, room temperature
2 eggs
150 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
120 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
green colouring
brown colouring

Cooking Instruction

1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Preheat oven to 170C.

2. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

3. Add egg to mixture one at a time and continue to whisk until incorporated.

4. Add in vanilla extract and mix.

5. Using a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the flour and alternate with 1/3 buttermilk. Repeat until finish.

6. Mix 1/3 of the mixture with brown colouring and the rest with green colouring. Put mixture in piping bags and pipe according to the above picture. I used a 7.5 X 11 inch sheet pan . If you feel making two tones is too troublesome just use green colouring.

7. Bake at preheated oven at 170C for 20 minutes or until cake becomes springy to the touch. Remove and let cool.

8. Using a cookie cutter, cut according to the above picture, that is, trunk on the brown side and others green. Arrange cut cakes in a row and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Step 2: The Vanilla cake

180 g cake flour
115 g butter, room temperature
2 eggs
150 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
120 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Cooking Instruction

Follow steps 1 - 5 above. Baking soda should be added to the flour while sifting.

6. Put a layer of cake mix into a 4 X 8 inch lined loaf pan. Remove Christmas tree from the freezer and put in the middle. I put the trees upside-down so that I could get a smooth top for frosting. While still holding the trees, add batter to the sides so that the trees stay supported in the middle. Pour in remaining batter. The batter should be just enough to cover the trees.

7. Lightly drop loaf pan a couple of times to release any air bubbles. Bake at a preheated oven at 160C for 40-50 minutes or skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Step 3: Chocolate star

20 - 30 g white chocolate
White sparkling sugar

Cooking Instruction

Melt white chocolate in the microwave in 30 seconds interval until the chocolate becomes liquid. Add one or two drops of yellow colouring to the chocolate. Pipe stars on a piece of parchment paper. I made an additional stick so that it would be easy for me to stick it into the cake later. Sprinkle sugar on chocolates and put in the fridge until needed.

Step 4: Frosting

120 ml whipping cream
3 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


Whip all ingredients together and cover cake generously with the frosting. You could also use frosting of your choice. I used white frosting to represent White Christmas. Arrange chocolate stars on top of cake. Decorate according to your preference.