Description
Festive Christmas crunch cake combines holiday spirit with delightful textures and rich flavors. Seasonal spices and crunchy elements create a memorable dessert perfect for winter gatherings and celebration.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup (230 g/8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cups (350 g/12.35 oz) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (240 ml/8 fl oz) buttermilk
- 2 ½ cups (310 g/10.9 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (85 g/3 oz) crushed candy canes or peppermint candies
- 1 cup (90 g/3.17 oz) rice cereal
- ½ cup (100 g/3.5 oz) holiday sprinkles
- ¼ cup (50 g/1.76 oz) crushed pretzels
- ½ cup (85 g/3 oz) white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (50 g/1.76 oz) melted butter
- ¼ cup (50 g/1.76 oz) brown sugar
- 1 cup (125 g/4.4 oz) powdered sugar
- 2–3 tbsps milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preparation: Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and coat a 9×13-inch cake pan with grease and flour, ensuring complete coverage for easy cake release.
- Dry Ingredient Fusion: Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl, creating a uniform dry ingredient blend that will provide structure and lift to the cake.
- Butter-Sugar Transformation: Cream butter and sugar together in a spacious bowl, beating until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and pale, developing a smooth, aerated base for the cake.
- Egg and Flavor Integration: Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly incorporating each before introducing vanilla extract, creating a rich, cohesive wet mixture with deep flavor undertones.
- Batter Composition: Gently fold dry ingredients into the wet mixture, alternating with buttermilk and mixing until just combined, taking care not to overmix and maintain the cake’s delicate texture.
- Festive Embellishment: Sprinkle crushed peppermint candies or candy canes throughout the batter, distributing evenly to create vibrant, seasonal bursts of flavor and visual appeal.
Notes
- Prevent Overmixing: Stir cake batter gently and only until ingredients are just combined to maintain a tender, light texture and avoid dense, tough cake.
- Candy Crush Technique: Crush peppermint candies into fine, uniform pieces to ensure even distribution and prevent large, hard chunks in the cake’s soft crumb.
- Temperature Precision: Allow butter, eggs, and buttermilk to reach room temperature before mixing to create smoother batter and more consistent cake texture.
- Festive Variation Options: Swap peppermint candies with other seasonal mix-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, or dried cranberries to customize the cake’s flavor profile.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 13
- Calories: 346
- Sugar: 31 g
- Sodium: 193 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 11 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg