Snow cake is a longstanding tradition in my family — the day of the first real snowfall, when the ground first snuggles under a full blanket of snow, you bake a “snow cake”: a white cake with white icing. Decorated with chocolate chips arranged in the shape of snowmen. Sometimes, by request, one might add sprinkles. In fact, whatever feels most like a celebration of winter to you, that is how you decorate a snow cake. I have one friend who goes all out with multi-coloured rainbow sprinkles, and I respect that. Deeply. Now, sometimes I do too.
A snow cake doesn’t require a particular recipe. Any white cake with white icing, made to celebrate the first snowfall, will do. A specific cake is not the assignment. The icing can be slapdash or meticulous, whatever you like. The project of snow cake-ing is just about taking time to notice and enjoy the season. If you’re like me, and look out the window to see the first snowfall of the year, and you run around the house calling out “it snowed it snowed it snowed!”, you may already be a fan of winter. And if you’re not, well, eating a fresh piece of cake might just take the edge off. I’ve made so many snow cakes over the years, all different shapes and sizes. Decades of them. Vegan, layered, gluten-free single cupcakes, you name it.
Snow Cake is not made the first time you see the first flakes (though, the “rules” are flexible, and you do you). But the tradition in our home is that you bake Snow Cake the first time fluffy white snow coats the ground.
Think of it like this: if the world looks like it has been freshly iced, it is time to make snow cake.
There is only one real peril to Snow Cake, and that is turning your friends into Snow Cake Monsters. Every year I get texts and DMs and photographs from various friends asking if this counts as snow cake weather, and if so am I making snow cake today, and if so can they have some. Emails showing weather forecasts, selfies taken on snow-dusted balconies, text messages that are just “SNOW CAKE!”, phone calls asking for clarifications on the rules…
This is not an actual problem of course. And I am delighted to add a dash of extra joy to the first magical snowfall. I love all my abominable indomitable snow cake monster friends.
In recent years, my cravings for sugar have dialed way back. So I don’t always want to have a full-on cake kicking around the house. In our Toronto days, with a half dozen immediate neighbours, it was less of an issue. But you can make snow cakes in all configurations. One year, I followed this recipe for a single vanilla cupcake, doubled to make one for me and one for Neil. I decided to bring the woods into the celebration, and slathered one with icing infused with juniper berry syrup, and another with icing made with pine sugar. The flavours of a winter forest. Perfect.
Anyone who would like to adopt this tradition is most welcome — anyone who wants to celebrate the beauty of winter is an honourary member of my family. And if you happen to be living far away from your snowy hometown, perhaps you could follow along with their weather from afar, and let your baking bring the snow to you. And if you don’t have a recipe handy, here, you are welcome to use mine.
Snow Cake
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Butter and flour 1 x 9” round cake pan (or you can try 2 x 8” square pans, or cupcakes).
- Mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, beat well.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients a little at a time, until fully mixed. Add in the milk as you go.
- Pour into your pan (or pans) and bake at 350F for 30-45 mins. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Ice with Butter Icing (recipe below) once completely cool.
Tip: If you’d like a double-layer cake – or at least half of one – just cut the 9” round in half down the middle, shave a little off the top of one side to make it flat, and stack the two halves on top of each other!
Butter Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 4 tbsp+ cream or evaporated milk or milk or alternative milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Directions
Cream together all ingredients.
Depending on how dry your icing sugar is, you may need to add additional milk. I start with less icing sugar, closer to 2 cups, and then add more as needed to make a good spreadable icing.
Tip: Dipping your knife into a little bowl of warm water as you go helps this icing to spread smoothly.