My Mom has made this cake every Christmas for as long as I can remember. Her Mom made this cake for as long as she could remember. And before that, my great-grandmother made it. I spent the day with my Mom recently and we made this cake just for you. I wish you were here to help eat it.
Ok, not sure who I am kidding, it is already gone. Yep, we ate it all. It couldn’t be helped. Once you taste this frosting, you will know exactly why. The peppermint makes it perfect for a Christmas party, a family get-together or as a holiday treat. When my Mom was growing up, they ate Sunday dinner at her Grandma Smith’s house every Sunday. I never had the pleasure of meeting my Great-Grandmother Smith but I have always heard she was one of the best cooks around. Mom tells me stories of all the great food she would cook and this cake was ALWAYS the treat on Sundays. The one difference was that she put roasted peanuts on it instead of peppermint candy, except at Christmas and then she used crushed up candy canes.
I always wondered why no one had ever seen my Mom make this cake. As we were in her kitchen I got to the bottom of the mystery. She never made it when any of us were around because then she would have had to share the bowl and beaters. Seriously, I now know I was deprived all these years. I could make a bowl of the frosting and just sit and eat the whole dang thing. I thought she and I were going to get into a knock down drag out…but we played nice and shared…mostly.
Gather up the ingredients (also need whatever the cake mix you choose calls for).
Make your cake according to the directions on the box. I like the French Vanilla but you can use yellow cake mix if you want.
After you get the cake in the oven, you need to crush up the candy canes. You can leave the a little chunky or crush them as fine as you choose. They do look better if there are more pieces than powder.
Once the cake comes out of the oven and is cooling you need to get ready to make the frosting. It calls for 4 egg whites and both Mom and I had seen a thing on Pinterest that said to use an empty water bottle to separate the yolks from the whites. We just had to try it. Coolest thing ever! You are going to love this little trick. Simply squeeze the water bottle in and place directly over the yolk and release. It sucks the yolk into the water bottle and leaves the whites!!
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And since you are going to be using 1 and 2/3 cups of sugar, that is a LOT of calories you are going to be saving.
In other words, you can eat 2 pieces!!
The best part is that no one will ever know that it is a lower calorie dessert! The new Domino Light is great for baking and tastes great.
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Finish up the frosting…
Frost the first layer and sprinkle with some of the candy.
Place the second layer on top…
And use the rest of the frosting to cover the whole cake.
My Mom’s always looks even and so pretty. Mine, well…while it isn’t the prettiest I have seen it still tastes fabulous!
Then sprinkle candy canes over the top and side.
And ENJOY!!
Candy Cane Cake
French Vanilla Cake Mix, baked according to package directions
8-10 Candy Canes, crushed
1 2/3 cups Domino Light Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hot water
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Make cake layers and set out to cool. The cake needs to be cool when you frost it. Peel wrappers off of the candy canes, place in a storage bag and crush. We used a rolling pin but most anything will work.
Beat the egg whites until they form a peak. Add Domino Light Sugar, salt, cream of tartar and water to a saucepan (NOT to the egg whites). Boil, stirring constantly, until a drop will form a soft ball in cold water. Add the hot mixture to the egg whites and continue to beat with mixer at medium speed until the frosting is a smooth texture, it takes about 8-10 minutes. Add vanilla flavoring and beat two more minutes.
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“Disclaimer: This is a recipe from my family, especially for yours. Domino Sugar did supply the Light Sugar and a promotional product to help facilitate this post. All opinions are my own. Also a HUGE thanks for offering you the chance to win a $25 giftcard!!”
