Festive Wreath Cookie Cake
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Looking for a simple but festive & cute dessert to bring to a holiday gathering?
This is it! Vanilla bean sugar cookies layered with yummy buttercream and topped with some super cute sprinkles and a simple little bow. Everybody will be so impressed! Plus, it’s delicious.
I've used my famous sugar cookie recipe here that Ive been using for all my decorated cookies for a decade now, plus my swiss meringue buttercream recipe. I’ve included both recipes at the end of this post BUT if you want to make this even simpler, feel free to use storebought sugar cookie dough and buttercream (I won’t tell!), or use your favourite recipes.
Here’s a list of supplies you’ll need to make these:
Sugar cookie dough (you can find my recipe here , along with detailed instructions for rolling & baking. I’ve also included the recipe at the end of this post)
Baking sheet & parchment paper
Sharp paring knife
Buttercream - this is my favourite Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe, but if you have a favourite buttercream recipe, feel free to use that instead.
Gel or Oil Based food colouring (I used Sweetapolita Oil based colours in Leaf Green and Bubblegum Pink - you can use my code MILKANDCOOKIESBAKESHOP for 15% off on their website!)
2 piping bags (I used one large 14” and one small 10”, but two medium sized ones would work too) and an open star tip (I used a Wilton 1M) and small round tip (I used a Wilton #12)
Sprinkles (I used Sweetapolita’s “Whoville Christmas” blend - use my code MILKANDCOOKIESBAKESHOP for 15% off on their website!)
An 8” cake board, plate, or cake stand for assembling your wreath on
How do I make it?
Make your sugar cookies - follow my sugar cookie recipe, your favourite sugar cookie recipe, or use storebought dough. Print and cut out this wreath template. Roll out your dough (detailed instructions for rolling can be found in my sugar cookie recipe post), then place a large piece of rolled dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place your cut out template on top of the dough and cut out the shape with a sharp praing knife. Repeat so you have two wreath shapes. Bake your wreaths at 375 F for 7-9 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn golden and the cookies do not look wet on top. Let your cookies cool completely.
While your cookies are cooling, make your buttercream. You can follow my recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream or use your favourite recipe or storebought buttercream. You will need about half a batch or 550 grams of buttercream. Take about 50 grams of buttercream and colour it pink for your bow. Put the pink buttercream in your piping bag with the round tip. Colour your remaining buttercream green and put it in the piping bag with the open star tip.
Once your cookies are completely cool, you can assemble your wreath! Put a few dabs of buttercream on your cake board, plate, or cake stand, then place your first sugar cookie wreath on top, pressing down to adhere it to the buttercream.
Use your grean buttercream to pipe rosette shapes all over your wreath, then lay your second cookie on top of your buttercream. (If desired, you can add other things to the filling of your cake before you put the second cookie on top, like a drizzle of salted caramel or ganache if you want to get extra fancy!)
Pipe green rosettes all over your top cookie, making some smaller and some bigger. Then sprinkle as many sprinkles as your heart desires on top. You could also add other candies or decorations here if you want. I think peppermints or M&M’s would be really cute.
Last, pipe a simple bow at the top of your wreath using the pink buttercream.
Enjoy! This cookie cake is best served the same day as you make it, but it can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the buttercream to soften.
Happy decorating!
Roll Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 380g (3 cups) All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 215g (1 cup) Salted Butter (Room temperature)
- 210g (1 cup) Granulated Sugar
- 8g (1 2/3 tsp) Vanilla Paste or the seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean
- 2 Large Eggs (Room temperature)
Instructions
- Whisk together your flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
- Put your butter, sugar, and vanilla paste into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed with paddle attachment until all butter is incorporated into sugar and mixture is smooth.
- Crack your eggs into a pitcher or bowl
- While mixer is running on medium speed, add your eggs one at a time, waiting after each addition for your eggs to incorporate and stopping the mixer and scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Stop the mixer and dump your flour mixture into the bowl. Change speed to low and mix until flour is just incorporated. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Remove bowl from mixer and finish mixing by hand to ensure that all ingredients are incorporated evenly (get down to the bottom of the bowl with your hands or a spatula or dump out dough and mix on counter)
- Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately 1/4" thick and cut out desired shapes. Set aside your already rolled scraps as you go so you are not re-rolling the same dough over and over. Once you are out of new dough, you can re-roll the scraps 1-2 times. (See post above for tips on rolling & cutting your dough!)
- Bake at 375 F for 5-7 minutes, rotating your tray halfway through if your oven does not bake evenly. Note that this bake time is for cookies that are about 3.5"-4" in size. You will need to adjust the bake time for cookies that are smaller or larger than this.
- When the cookies come out of the oven, use a clean baking tray to flatten them gently so that they have a flat surface for decorating, then place tray on a rack to cool completely.
- You can store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer in an airtight container for several months.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 320g (1 2/3 cups) Granulated Sugar
- 235g Egg Whites (1 cup) (fresh or from a carton)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 10g (2 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 565g (2 1/2 cups) Unsalted Butter (softened)
Instructions
- Fill a pot with water about halfway and bring to a boil. Make sure your mixer bowl will sit on top of the pot without the bottom touching the water.
- Add your sugar, egg whites, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Place bowl over the pot of boiling water and whisk frequently until mixture is hot to the touch and sugar is dissolved.
- While your sugar/egg white mixture is heating, measure vanilla into a small bowl and set aside. Cut up your butter into small pieces that are approximately 1 tablespoon in size.
- Place bowl on mixer and whip on high speed until fluffy and white and the bowl is neutral to the touch.
- With mixer running on low, add your vanilla, then turn back up to high and start adding your butter one chunk at a time.
- Buttercream will most likely separate, but keep whipping and it will come back together.
- After all of your butter is added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then continue to whip until buttercream is fluffy and white and shiny, about 5-15 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room.
- Store any leftover buttercream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for several months. Bring up to room temperature an re-whip to use again. If it is too small an amount to re-whip, warm up the buttercream in the microwave in 5 second bursts, stirring after each one, until smooth and shiny.
