This Biscoff Cake pairs fluffy vanilla cake layers with a sweet cookie butter frosting and crushed speculoos cookies.
Where are my cookie butter fans at? This Biscoff Cake is for YOU. It is pure cookie butter heaven.
I didn’t know cookie butter was a thing until a friend of mine brought me back a jar from Trader Joe’s. We don’t have Trader Joe’s here and I am forever sad about that. I don’t get down to the US that often so I’m unable to partake in all of the amazing goodies they have there.
Thankfully, we can now get our own cookie butter in the stores here in Canada. The brand we have is called Penotti and you can find it wherever you’d find peanut butter or other spreads.
What Is Cookie Butter?
Cookie butter is made from Belgian Speculoos cookies. Speculoos (or Biscoff) cookies have a unique flavor that is hard to describe — spiced, crisp, gingersnap-like cookies.
They are delicious dunked in tea, and even better in the form of a spread!
You can use it just as you’d use something like peanut butter or chocolate hazelnut spread. Cookies, cakes, frostings, ice cream — the delicious possibilities are endless.
The Biscoff Cake I bring you today uses both Smooth snd Crunchy Cookie butter spreads. I used the smooth spread in the buttercream, and the crunchy spread on top of each cake layer.
How to Make this Biscoff Cake
I chose to do a simple vanilla cake so that I could let the cookie butter stand out in the to-die-for Biscoff buttercream.
I made my favorite Swiss meringue buttercream and added some of the smooth cookie butter spread to it. It’s important not to add too much as this can (and will) affect the texture of your buttercream and might make it too soft.
Using the crunchy cookie butter is optional, but I like the extra flavor and texture it gives the cake. You could also just use crushed speculoos cookies between the layers.
I kept the decorating fairly simple. Smooth sides with crushed speculoos cookies along the top and bottom of the cake and finished it off with some rosettes piped with a 6B tip.
If you’re a cookie butter fan, you will LOVE this cake!
And if you’ve never had cookie butter before, run (don’t walk) to your nearest grocery store to get yourself some. And then come make this cake!
Tips for this Biscoff Cake:
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- I used both Smooth snd Crunchy Cookie butter spreads in this cake.
- If you don’t have crunchy cookie butter, you can use smooth on each layer or just leave it out.
- Alternatively, you can use crushed cookies on top of the frosting between the layers for some crunch.
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Biscoff Cake (Cookie Butter Cake)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsps baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk room temperature
Biscoff Buttercream:
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature, cubed
- 1/2 cup smooth cookie butter
Assembly:
- crunchy cookie butter
- speculoos cookies crushed (optional)
Instructions
Vanilla Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour three 6″ cake rounds, line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pans. Smooth the tops with a spatula.
- Bake for approx. 25-30mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack.
Biscoff Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reaches 160F (about 5mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth. Add cookie butter and mix until smooth.**
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread a thin layer of crunchy cookie butter on the cake. Top with 2/3 cup of frosting and spread evenly. Repeat with remaining layers and apply a thin coat of frosting all over the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost and smooth the sides. Decorate with rosettes and crushed Speculoos cookies if desired.
Notes
** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
Originally published December 2016
giftcakecard says
Ohhh awesome
Olivia says
Thank you!
michael laico says
Beautiful Cake, looks so delicious!!
Michael
Olivia says
Thanks so much Michael!
Tiffany says
I’ve used this recipe at least three times now and get rave reviews every single time! Anytime I’m trying something new, this page is my go-to! I know I can always trust every recipe you put on your site! How long do you recommend baking for cupcakes?
Olivia says
Hi Tiffany! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, I’m so happy you like this (and other) recipes 🙂 I would start checking the cupcakes at 15mins or so.
Kristin says
I’ve made this cake twice now, and have been asked if I make cakes for a living – it’s just that good! The cake has a good flavor of its own, bit the cookie butter layer and Swiss meringue frosting bring it to an extra-special level of deliciousness!
Olivia says
Hi Kristin! So happy to hear you love it 🙂
LaolaCake says
What do you use to get the sides of your cake so smooth?
Thank you
Olivia says
Hi there! I use a cake turntable and a large icing scraper.
Gina Dovas says
Hi, great recipe! I’m just wondering how I would make the buttercream American style? Any ideas?
Olivia says
Hi Gina! You can use this recipe (https://livforcake.com/simple-vanilla-buttercream/) and either add some cookie butter to it, or swap some of the butter for cookie butter.
Sophie Burn says
How amazing is this recipe? I don’t have a mixer at all, could I do it by hand? I’m more worried about the buttercream? Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Sophie! Do you have a hand mixer? If so that should work for the buttercream, but you’d be whipping for a looooong time, until the meringue cooled. It would be a workout! You could try an American style buttercream instead?
Sophie says
Thanks so much for getting back to me! I think I’m going to invest in a handwhisk, this butter cream sounds insane! Thanks 🙂
Amanda W. says
Hi. I think the metric for the amount of Cookie Butter spread is in error as it says 4g which seems too little to make a batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Not sure if you could amend it. Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Amanda! Good catch — the metric measurements are an automatic calculation that I don’t verify myself. I don’t have any cookie butter on hand right now, but for peanut butter it’s about 125g, so should be about the same. I hope that helps!
Amanda W. says
Hi, it did and I used 125g myself too cos due to our time zone difference, I quickly convert it to grams measuring peanut butter too haha. Thanks and I tagged you on Instagram on my creation. The smbc came out perfect and lovely.
Olivia says
Ohhh awesome, glad to hear that it worked!! Will check the IG post 🙂
Terri says
What color is the buttercream? How would you make this using ganache instead?
Olivia says
Hi Terri! I’m not sure I understand. The buttercream is the color shown in the pics, a very light yellow/brown as it’s colored by the cookie butter. What sort of ganache would you want to use?
Liz says
My friend made this and brought it over for a ladies night, it was incredible. One of the best cakes I ever had. I am just wondering if anyone made cupcakes out of this yet and if so any cooking tips?
Olivia says
Hi Liz! So glad you liked it! This recipe will work just fine as cupcakes, you’d just need to reduce the baking time. I would recommend checking them at 15mins or so 🙂
Brianna Metz says
If made with cake flour instead of AP flour, would the measurements be the same?
Olivia says
Hi Brianna! Yes, they would be the same.
Nataly tupas says
How tall would you say this cake is? Mine baked moist good but short layers don’t seem to see why!
Olivia says
Hi Nataly! The layers should be between 1 – 1 1/2″ tall.
Alex says
What changes should be made for nine inch cake pans?
Olivia says
Hi Alex! I would 2x the recipe for two 9″ pans or 3x it for three 9″ pans and make cupcakes with any extra batter.
Narkie says
Should this cake be dense? The batter was pretty thick? I was kind of the consistency of a pound cake batter. I had run out of white sugar so I used 1/2 cup of white and 1/2 cup brown. Could this have affected the cake? Any suggestions…
Narkie says
How far ahead can the frosting be made before frosting the cake….this is my first meringue frosting attempt
Olivia says
You can make the frosting a good few days in advance and store in the fridge. You’ll need to bring it to room temperature and rewhip it before using.
Olivia says
Hi Narkie! The batter is fairly thick, yes, and spreadable. Not quite as thick as pound cake batter, but close. Did you pack the brown sugar? It will affect the cake slightly, but shouldn’t be detrimental. Let me know how it turns out!
Kas says
I was in all honesty disappointed, I was looking for an old fashioned cookie butter cake, not a vanilla cake with cookie butter frosting. Though this recipe does sound very tasty and I am definitely going to try it.
Olivia says
Hi Kas! You can experiment and add some cookie butter to the cake if you want. I hope you like it!
Kelly says
Hi , I don’t have a cake mixer. Can I make
This cake by hand? I have a hand mixer? Also can I frost the cake the day before? And put it all in the fridge?
Olivia says
Hi Kelly! For the cake a hand mixer would work just fine. Technically you can use one for the frosting too, but it takes a good 10-15mins for the meringue to whip and cool enough to add the butter. If you’re ok hand mixing it for that long, it will be fine! And yes, you can make it the day before and refrigerate it. just be sure to take it out 2-3 hours before serving. I hope that helps!
Monica says
Can you add some cookie butter to the cake batter? I am so making this
Olivia says
Hi Monica! I haven’t tried, but you totally could. You’d just need to experiment with the ratios a bit so that the cake still turns out ok — ie. possibly replacing some of the butter with cookie butter. You could just try adding 1/4 cup of it to see what happens though! 1/4 cup shouldn’t cause a disaster 🙂
CiCi says
If you live in Texas like I do, you can purchase cookie butter at H.E.B. It is a large, Texas based grocery store. You can find it on the peanut butter aisle. HEB makes their own brand & it is wonderful!
Olivia says
Hi CiCi! Thanks for the tips!
Louisa says
OMG I just made the Cookie Butter cake and it’s amazing. I wish I could submit a photo because it looks and tastes so good. All the different textures and the flavors!! YUMMM! When I was making the buttercream I had my husband, my adult daughter and 6 year old granddaughter all watching and wanting to taste it. Thank you so much for your recipe
Olivia says
Hi Louisa! So happy to hear everyone loved it. That frosting is amazing, right?? I would love to see a picture! You can email me at livforcakeblog [at] gmail [dot] com 🙂
Vanessa says
This looks great! I can’t wait to try this frosting recipe! I hate to ask this out of fear of coming off rude, but I am a new baker. Could you use a box of vanilla cake and still get a similar result? I’m terrified of messing the cake recipe up.
Olivia says
Hi Vanessa! You totally could 🙂 I recommend modifying the mix a bit for even better flavour and texture. See here:
http://livforcake.com/2014/10/almost-scratch-cake.html
Let me know how it goes!