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
Aqilah says
Hi there! I love this and I would like to try your recipe but may I know if I want to bake in 2 of 9 inch square tins should I doubled the recipe? Thanks in advance🥰✨
Olivia says
Hi Aqilah! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Abbie says
Hi! I was wondering if your 6 inch recipes can be divided into 4 tins instead of 3 with those same quantities? Thank you in advance xx
Olivia says
Hi Abbie! Yes for sure. The layers will be a bit thinner though so you’ll need to reduce the baking time.
Amy says
Do u have the measurements when using 3 8 inch pans?
Amy says
Sorry measurements for 3 9 inch pans
Olivia says
Hi Amy! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Nina says
Is this best kept in the refrigerator or at room temperature?
Olivia says
Hi Nina! It will be fine at room temp for a couple of days but I prefer to refrigerate my cakes.
Melanie says
I am making this for dessert on Christmas Eve. Do you have any suggestions for making the frosting white instead of beige?
Olivia says
Hi Melanie! It will be tricky if you add the cookie butter to it as that will tint the buttercream. You can try some of my tips here though! https://livforcake.com/how-to-make-buttercream-white/
Anna says
Hi
I was going to make this cake for my fathers bday on Christmas eve and had a few questions.
1. Would this cake hold fondant?
2. How should I store it if I make it in advance?
Thank you so much
Anna
Olivia says
Hi Anna! This cake would be great under fondant, just make sure to chill it so the frosting is firm. If it’s just a day in advance you can leave the cake and frosting at room temp (wrapped/covered in plastic wrap). The buttercream will need to be rewhipped before use to fluff it up again. Otherwise, if making further in advance:
For the Cake: Cool the layers, double wrap in plastic wrap, freeze for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
For the Buttercream: Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 1 week for freeze for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and rewhip before using.
The fully assembled cake will be fine in the fridge for 2-3 days.
I hope that helps!
Natalie says
Hi Olivia,
I am hoping to make this cake in a 9 X 13 cake pan. Will this recipe make a cake and enough frosting for that size? If so what are the oven temp and baking time? Thanks for your help here.
Olivia says
Hi Natalie! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
I believe it should work as is in a 9×13 pan based on that, but I haven’t tried it myself. Baking temperature would be the same but baking time will likely need to be adjusted. It’s hard to say exactly by how much as every oven differs too. I would just keep checking on the cake and once it’s golden and no longer jiggly, test it with a skewer to see if it’s done.
Tara says
Has anyone tried adding cookie butter to the cake batter, yet?
Olivia says
Hi Tara! This is on my list to try. I would try and replace 1/4 cup of the butter with cookie butter.
Mandy Horvath says
I’ve done it. 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cookie butter. I also do half white sugar and half brown sugar.
Olivia says
Thanks for your tips, Mandy!
Camryn says
I used this recipe last week and it was a hit! If I made cupcakes what you’ll the oven temperature/ cook time be?
Olivia says
Hi Camryn! So glad you liked it 🙂 Baking temp would be the same, start checking them at 15mins or so.
Diana says
What a wonderful recipe!! I used this recipe to train my daughter in law in some hands on baking and decorating skills. She needed a cake for her grandmother’s 80th birthday. The results were truly stunning. The compliments were over the top!!! We used your Swiss meringue icing, but added a little extra cookie butter, and some vanilla and a pinch of salt. It was perfect!!! Thank you for sharing your recipes!!! Wish we could post a picture of the end result. It was a show stopper!!
Olivia says
Hi Diana! So happy everyone loved it! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Sara Robertson says
Any thoughts on using cake flour instead of all purpose?
Olivia says
Hi Sara! That should work fine. Just swap it one for one.
Tammie says
I think I might have found the recipe I need to make my nephews birthday cake but I have a question. Can I use some dark brown sugar in lieu of some of the white? There’s a Biscoff cupcake recipe I found on YouTube where dark brown sugar is used along with the white to give the sponge more of that caramel flavor.
Just tossing this out there for anyone who may want to try this. In that Biscoff cupcake recipe she also uses a filling which consists of heavy whipping cream and some Biscoff spread. That’s how I plan to make this cake. Of course I’ll create a dam of frosting to hold it in. The amount of whipping cream and the Biscoff spread somehow makes it pretty stable. I like the idea of using crushed up crackers to do the border on the bottom because in her recipe she actually uses the crackers with some butter and corn syrup to create a base (like a cheesecake base). I also plan to drizzle some slightly melted Biscoff spread all over the cake (another touch to her cupcakes). I’m not the best when it comes to writing but I may just use some of the spread to write out Happy Birthday in thick bold letters, lol. Hope to hear back from you soon. Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Tammie! You can replace some of the white sugar with dark brown no problem (in the cake and frosting too if you like). Your version sounds totally delicious. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Jane says
Will half of this recipe make 12 cupcakes?
Olivia says
Hi Jane! Yes, about that, depending on size.
Jane says
It made 12 standard size cup cakes. I had leftover butter cookie buttercream that I wanted to use! Thanks!!
Elaine says
Sorry, are you able to provide this recipe but in grams measurements because there are several different cups to grams conversions online. Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Elaine! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients.
Pea says
Hi Liv. Making this cake on Sunday for my husband’s birthday. Just wondering the method used to add the cookie crumbs on the side of the cake. Also might sound silly but how did you specifically do up the crumbs? Thank you! 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Pea! Sorry for the delayed reply. I just took a handful and pressed them into the bottom 🙂
MK says
Hi Olivia! Quick question…if I’m planning to use American buttercream instead of SMBC on the outside of this cake, and want to use gel food colouring to achieve a really light pink hue, do you think that would be possible given the frosting is a bit off-white from the cookie butter? Would it be better to use SMBC? Thanks so much!
Olivia says
Hi MK! I think either buttercream would have an off white color and adding pink would make it peachy. If you want it to be pink I would leave the cookie butter out of the frosting :\
Debbie Antwi says
This looks delicious! Do you think you could add the biscuit to the cake batter like you would an oreo cake?
Olivia says
Hi Debbie! You could add some finely ground cookies to the batter but you’d need to remove some of the flour. I would start with 1/4 cup crushed cookies and reduce the flour by 1/4 cup.
Shyri says
Can you use eggs whites from a carton for the buttercream?
Olivia says
Hi Shyri! I have not had success with those so I cannot recommend them. See this post for more details.
Sasha says
Would this taste good with a chocolate cake? I’m making a birthday cake for my friend and I need a lighter colored icing so I could decorate it with pink icing. Any thoughts?
Olivia says
Hi Sasha! I think it would be delicious! The base color for this frosting isn’t white though so it would turn more peach in color than pink.
Ayesha says
Hi there! Love your recipes. I made your Ferrero Rocher cake a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit, and I am so looking forward to this one because I *love* Biscoff cookies! One question – would 3 x 6″ pans work instead of the 2 x 8″? Thank you 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Ayesha! This recipe is for three 6″ but works fine as two 8″ as well 🙂