How to Make This Easy yet Impressive Peppermint Bundt Cake

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is all the holiday baking! However, just like you, I’m a busy mom, so I’m always looking for easy recipes that look—and taste—amazing. I’ve found just the thing to make this year: a peppermint cake in a bundt pan!

After all, it’s that time of the year again, where we all start reminiscing about Christmases past. The tree with tinsel and ornaments, the presents wrapped in shiny paper, and Bing Crosby crooning “White Christmas” on the radio. What better way to get into the festive spirit than baking a Christmas bundt cake filled with candy canes?

This peppermint candy cane bundt cake is a such a fun way to celebrate the holidays. As an added bonus, it’s easy to make and can be baked in advance, which makes it perfect for those busy days of holiday parties!

This blog post will show you how to make a peppermint cake in about an hour. You’ll spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your loved ones while enjoying a sweet treat. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Candy Cane Cake

This wonderful peppermint cake is perfect for a holiday get-together. It’s not too rich or sweet either. This is a great option for a lighter dessert, yet it looks so pretty and festive with its white frosting and crushed candy canes on top.

I haven’t met a person yet who hasn’t loved this delightful Christmas bundt cake. And it’s so simple to make, you’ll love baking it too!

Plus, the fact that it’s in a bundt shape makes it all the more fun…as well as easier to slice and serve!

Looking for more holiday desserts? These frosted eggnog cookies have just the right amount of eggnog-inspired flavor!

Peppermint Cake Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this yummy cake:

• 1 package white cake mix or you can make your own white cake batter from scratch*
• peppermint extract – this is important to get that yummy peppermint flavor
• red food coloring – part of the magic of this cake is that it has a colorful ribbon swirled through the layers of the cake
• crushed peppermint candies – don’t have peppermint candy on hand? Just grab a few peppermint candy canes off your tree!
• powdered sugar – if you don’t have powdered sugar, you can add regular granulated sugar to a blender and give it several blitzes
• milk – full fat tastes best, but use what you have on hand

*I made my own white cake batter from scratch – mainly because I didn’t have a white cake mix in the house and it was quicker to do it by hand than run to the store. So that’s up to you.

Instructions for Making the Peppermint Cake

Making this Christmas bundt cake is so simple!

First, mix up your cake batter according to the package directions or your own from-scratch recipe. I recommend doing this in a stand mixer or by using an electric mixer on medium speed.

Then, take 1 cup of the batter and pour it into a small bowl. This is how we are going to set aside the peppermint cake layers from the white cake.

Add the half teaspoon peppermint extract to the small bowl with the batter.

Tip: don’t overdo it with this one – too much peppermint extract will make a recipe icky. Trust me – I did that once – NOT good flavors, unfortunately.

Then add the red food coloring and crushed peppermint candies. Simply put the candy canes (or candies) in a zip topped bag and seal it. Next, pound them with a hammer or something heavy.

Just make sure you use a regular zipped storage bag and not a produce one with the little air holes. I accidentally grabbed a produce bag and oops – there were peppermint bits all over the counter! But of course, you would never do that, right?

Next, mix it all up really well to create the peppermint layer! Isn’t that pink and red combo pretty?

Now we’re going to add the batter to our cake pan. You’ll need a bundt pan or tube pan. Grease and flour it well – or use my favorite kitchen helper – Baker’s Joy nonstick spray:

How to Layer the Cake

First, spoon 2 cups of the white batter into your cake pan.

Then, spoon the red peppermint cake batter on top of this. Do not swirl the batter.

Don’t worry about covering it perfectly – you won’t notice either way. Then top with the remaining plain batter. Again it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Now again, do NOT swirl the batter with a knife. Resist the temptation! Just leave it and put it in the oven like this.

Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until it tests done. You know by testing with a toothpick and checking to see if any batter sticks to it.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan onto a wire rack.

Let it cool completely.

Ice the Cake

Next, we’ll make the icing. Don’t be nervous – this part is so easy. Whisk together the cup powdered sugar and milk using a fork.

Then drizzle the icing over the cake. I took the fork and drizzled the icing over the peppermint cake with it, but use whatever method works best for you. Try out a spoon, spatula, whatever.

Lastly, sprinkle the remaining crushed peppermint candies or candy canes on top.

Look at your beautiful cake! Doesn’t it look festive?

Warning: this candy cane cake won’t last for long!

How to Store the Christmas Bundt Cake

We rarely have leftovers of this cake, but if you do, the bundt cake can be store in a large airtight container or bundt cake keeper. AFFILIATE LINK

Since it has milk in the glaze, I’d recommend storing it in the fridge. When you want to enjoy a slice, let it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to come back to room temperature. Enjoy!

More Christmas Baking Recipes:

• Gluten Free Frosted Ginger Cookies
• Chewy Caramel Cookie Bars
• Chocolate Mint Cookie Sandwiches
• Soft and Chewy Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Print