One of our most popular cakes gets yet another update for Christmas! This Santa’s Milk & Cookies Cake is made with fluffy vanilla cake, candy cane cookie dough filling, and creamy mascarpone frosting. It’s perfect for Santa or sharing with friends and family!

The first version of this Milk & Cookies Cake appeared right here on Style Sweet. It was a small 6-inch cake with a dainty polka-dot finish. You guys LOVED it so much that it was given an upgrade in flavor and an increase in size in order to serve a crowd. You can find the same fluffy pink frosting and cookie dough-inspired filling within the pages of Icing on the Cake.

For the holidays, the cake got yet another make-over. Everyone knows that Santa’s favorite treat is cookies and milk, so why not turn this cake into something sweet and festive just for him? To the cookie dough-inspired filling, we added white chocolate chunks and bits of crushed candy cane.

This cake still has all the things we love about the original, but with a holiday twist. We used a simple, one-bowl vanilla cake recipe (made with melted butter and oil) that’s light, springy, and reminiscent of boxed cake mix. The cookie dough filling starts with browned butter before being whipped with a splash of molasses for that brown sugar cookie taste. A half cup of mascarpone elevates standard American buttercream into this creamy, fluffy sensation. Cream cheese works perfectly as an easy substitute.

Milk & Cookies Cake

Adapted from Icing on the Cake
serves 12 to 16

3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ⅓ cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅔ cup (153 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
⅓ cup canola oil
chocolate chips for decorating

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans and set aside. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the egg mixture into the center of the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

Stir together the melted butter and oil. Pour the butter mixture into the batter and stir until combined.

Evenly distribute the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 23 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing the cakes from their pans. Allow cakes to completely cool before filling and frosting.

Candy Cane Cookie Dough Filling

¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter
2 ½ cups (310 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
pinch of salt
1 to 2 tablespoons milk, as needed
¼ cup chopped white chocolate
¼ cup chopped dark chocolate
¼ cup finely crushed candy cane

Place the butter in a light-coloured sauce pan and melt on the stove over medium heat*. Continue to simmer until the butter becomes frothy and starts to turn golden in color. Stirring to keep the milk solids from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan, continue to cook the butter until brown, about 8 minutes. When done, it will be nutty and fragrant.

Strain the brown butter into a heat-safe bowl. Discard the dark solids left behind. Refrigerate the butter until it becomes solid yet soft (the same consistency as room temperature butter). Stirring every so often, this may take 20 to 35 minutes.

Once the melted brown butter returns to a semi-solid consistency, place it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a mixer bowl with a hand mixer). Mix on medium until the butter is smooth and uniform. With the mixer low, slowly add in the sugar, molasses, vanilla, peppermint extract, salt and 1 tablespoon milk. Once incorporated, beat the buttercream on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes**. Add more milk, as needed, until the desired consistency is achieved. Stir in both chocolates and candy cane pieces.

*Do not boil on high heat or too much water content from the butter will evaporate out

**Even though the ingredients will come together sooner than this time, keep mixing to incorporate enough air to make the frosting light and fluffy instead of heavy and grainy.

Creamy Whipped Buttercream

1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup (60 g) mascarpone or cream cheese, at room temperature
3 ½ to 4 (425 to 500 g) confectioners’ sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk, as needed
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Using a stand (or hand) mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and mascarpone on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, 1 to 3 minutes.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually add all but 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon of milk, and vanilla, scraping bowl occasionally. Mix until blended.

Beat at medium-high speed 3 to 5 minutes, until buttercream is light, airy, and nearly white. If needed, add the additional sugar or milk until desired consistency is achieved. The buttercream should spread smoothly without tearing the crumb of the cake but think enough that it holds shape when piped and spread between the layers. Tint pink, if desired.

To assemble

Place one layer of cake on a cake board or serving dish. Spread on half of the cookie dough filling with an offset spatula until smooth. Top with the next layer of cake and repeat. Place the last layer on top of the cake. Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream then refrigerate the cake for 15 minutes.

Fill a piping bag fitted with a medium star top with about 1 cup of buttercream. Once chilled, smoothly frost the cake with the remaining buttercream. Pipe a shell boarder around the top edge and decorate with chocolate chip polka dots, making sure to press the pointed tips into the side of the cake (so the flat bottoms face out and are flesh with the outside of the cake).