Cakes and Cupcakes

Christmas Tree Cake

This Christmas tree cake recipe turns a basic vanilla sheet cake into a tall tree filled with fluffy buttercream, then decorates it with red icing garlands, candy “lights” and green sprinkles for a playful holiday centerpiece

Serves 20 slices
Prep 30 minutes
Cook 17 minutes
Total 47 minutes

Jump to the recipe

Easy Christmas Tree Cake inspired by nostalgic Little Debbie’s Christmas Tree Cakes but made completely from scratch. Soft vanilla sponge, creamy buttercream and a simple cut-out template do all the hard work for you. Perfect for parties and kids’ decorating sessions, with step-by-step instructions that walk you through baking, carving and icing 🎄🎄🎄

A Christmas tree-shaped cake with white frosting, decorated with red icing, green sugar sprinkles, and red and green candies, sits on a white platter. A small bowl of candies and a teaspoon of sprinkles are nearby.

This Christmas Tree Cake is pure holiday fun – a soft vanilla sheet cake cut into a tree shape, sandwiched and covered with fluffy vanilla buttercream and festive sprinkles. Think of it as a giant version of Little Debbies Christmas Tree Cake only much fresher and made to share. No special tins, just regular sheet pans, a paper template and a little bit of trimming.

If you grew up with nostalgic Christmas snack cakes wrapped in crinkly plastic, this is the grown up glow-up. My Christmas Tree Cake starts with a simple vanilla sheet cake, cut into a tree shape, filled with fluffy buttercream and decorated with festive sprinkles.

Even if you’ve never heard of Little Debbie, this cake Christmas tree is still an instant showstopper – it’s basically the easiest way to turn a plain rectangle into a magical holiday centerpiece for your dessert table this holiday season.

A Christmas tree-shaped cake with white frosting, red icing garlands, green and red candies as ornaments, and green sugar sprinkles. A slice is cut out, and a spoon with green sprinkles is beside the cake.

Here’s What You’ll Need

Click on the link to download the Christmas tree template.

Vanilla sheet cake – A soft, close-crumbed vanilla sponge that’s sturdy enough to cut and stack but still light to eat. You can use your favorite white or yellow cake base.
Vanilla buttercream – Whipped until fluffy and spreadable so it fills the layers without squishing out when you press them together.
Red decorating gel – or you can tint some of the buttercream with red food coloring.
Green sprinkles – For that crunchy festive sparkle on top, plus a selection candy if you want to decorate your cake tree.

A flat lay of baking ingredients in bowls: unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, sugar, milk, vanilla, large eggs, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, each labeled with text on the image.

How to Make My Christmas Tree Cake

Prepare the Cake

Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Mist two 9×13 cake pans with cake release and line with paper, or bake in batches.
Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a measuring jug and set aside.
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir together.
Add the cubed unsalted butter to the dry ingredients and beat together until you have a crumbly, sandy texture.
Pour in the milk / egg mixture and beat until the batter is completely smooth, using a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake, in batches if necessary, for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick tester comes out clean.
Cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before cutting into the tree shape.

Four photos showing cake batter preparation: mixing flour and butter with a hand mixer, folding batter with a spatula, pouring egg mixture into the bowl, and blending everything together with a mixer.

Make the Buttercream

Beat softened butter and salt until creamy, scraping the bowl with a spatula as needed – you can do this in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer.
Add sifted powdered sugar and beat together on low speed until combined. Beat until light and fluffy, gradually adding heavy cream.
Beat in vanilla extract and two heaping tablespoons of marshmallow fluff (if using).

Side-by-side images show hands using an electric mixer to cream butter in a white mixing bowl; one image shows mixing in progress, the other shows fluffy creamed butter and beaters lifted from the bowl.

Assemble the Cake

Remove the chilled cake from the pan. Place the template on top and use a sharp knife to cut out the tree shape, reserving any offcuts. Repeat on the second sheet cake.
Spread a generous layer of buttercream over the bottom layer. Carefully place the second layer on top. Cover the entire cake, including the sides, in a thin layer of buttercream, then chill until firm.

A hand with red nails holds a paper Christmas tree template on a rectangular cake, preparing to cut it into a tree shape; on the right, the tree-shaped cake is shown on parchment paper.

Decorate and Serve

Finally the fun part! Add a second, thicker coating of buttercream and smooth over the cake.
Use red decorating gel to pipe stripes across the tree and scatter with green sprinkles. Use M&Ms or large sprinkles to add Christmas baubles onto the cake (optional).
Place your Christmas Tree Cake on a large board, surround it with cookies, truffles and chocolates and let guests slice their own pieces.

Four-step collage showing a Christmas tree-shaped cake being assembled: spreading frosting, layering cake, coating with more frosting, and finished cake decorated with red lines on a white platter.

Flavor Twists and Variations

You can use your favorite sheet cake recipe for the cake layers – such as red velvet, Biscoff or chocolate and tailor the buttercream flavor to suit.
A thin layer of seedless raspberry jam under the buttercream adds a delightful Victoria sponge type twist.
Use cream cheese frosting instead of vanilla buttercream or cover with chocolate frosting.
Add mixed colored sprinkles, sugar pearls, mini candy canes, gingerbread cookies or chocolate candies to decorate just before serving.

A muffin tray with six compartments filled with various colorful candies, including gummies, candy canes, chocolate buttons, and round sugar-coated sweets, placed on a textured white surface.

Storage and Make-Ahead

Storing: Once assembled and frosted, keep the cake covered in the fridge for up to 3 days, especially if your kitchen runs warm. Bring to room temperature for 30–60 minutes before serving so the buttercream softens again.
Freezing: Freeze the undecorated tree layers tightly wrapped for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before filling and decorating. Leftover slices can be wrapped individually and frozen; thaw in the fridge, then let them come to room temperature before eating.

What to Do with the Cake Offcuts

Don’t you dare throw those trimmings away – the best part of a Christmas tree cake recipe might just be the “scraps”. Here’s how to use them (other than sneakily snacking on them):

Make a trifle: Layer cake cubes with whipped cream, custard, berries or crushed cookies in small glasses or a large trifle bowl.
Turn them into cake pops or truffles: Crumble, mix with buttercream, or cream cheese frosting, roll into balls and dip in melted chocolate. Decorate with Christmas sprinkles – ta-da!!

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. A vanilla or yellow cake mix works perfectly for this Christmas tree cake. Bake it in two 9x13in pans, cool completely, then cut into the tree shape as directed. If you don’t have two pans you can bake the layers in batches.

Chill the cake layers until firm. Print the template (or sketch one yourself!) place on top of the cake and trim around it with a sharp knife.

Oven temperatures can vary so set a timer for 5 minutes before the specified time. The cake is done when the top is springy to the touch, the cake has just started to pull away from the edge of the pan and a skewer or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

A festive Christmas Tree Cake with white frosting, red icing garlands, and green sprinkles sits on a white platter. Red and green candies, a measuring spoon, and a tree-shaped cookie cutter surround this delightful holiday centerpiece.

Looking for more ideas? Browse my Christmas recipes.

Recipe

Christmas Tree Cake

Turn a simple sheet cake into a Christmas tree cake with vanilla buttercream, red icing “garlands” and candy lights. No special pan needed – just use the paper template! This crowd pleasing festive cake is perfect for the holiday season.

Serves 20 slices
Prep 30 minutes
Cook 17 minutes
Total 47 minutes

Ingredients

3 large eggs (room temperature)
¾ cup (180ml) milk (room temperature)
2 tsp vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
2 ¾ cups (330g) flour (all-purpose / plain)
1 ⅔ cups (330g) superfine sugar ((= caster sugar), or granulated)
3 level tsp baking powder
½ level tsp baking soda ((= bicarbonate of soda))
⅓ tsp salt
⅞ cup (200g) unsalted butter (cubed (needs to be firm but not fridge-cold))

For the icing & decoration

1 cup (226g) unsalted butter (, softened)
pinch sea salt
3 ⅓ cups (400g) powdered sugar ((= icing sugar), sifted)
½ cup (120ml) cold heavy cream ((= double cream))
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp marshmallow fluff ((optional))

To decorate

1 tbsp green sprinkles (or green sanding sugar)
red decorating gel
M&Ms, candies, sugar pearls (whatever you like!)

Method

Bake the sheet cakes

1
Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C). Mist two 9×13 cake pans with cake release and line with paper. If you only have one pan, you can bake in batches – see note 1.
2
Combine the milk, eggs and vanilla in a measuring jug and set aside.
3
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.
4
Add cubed unsalted butter and beat together until you have a crumbly, sandy texture.
5
Pour in the milk / egg mixture and beat until the batter is completely smooth, using a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
6
Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake, in batches if necessary, for 16-17 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick tester comes out clean.
7
Cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Make the buttercream

8
Beat the butter and salt until softened and creamy, scraping the bowl with a spatula as needed – you can do this in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer.
9
Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat together on low speed until combined. Continue to beat until light and fluffy, gradually adding heavy cream and increasing speed once ingredients have combined.
10
Beat in vanilla extract and two heaping tablespoons of marshmallow fluff (if using).

Assemble the cake

11
Remove the chilled cake from the pan. Place the template on top and use a sharp knife to cut out the tree shape, reserving any offcuts. Repeat on the second sheet cake.
12
Spread a generous layer of buttercream over the bottom layer. Carefully place the second layer on top. Cover the entire cake, including the sides, in a thin layer of buttercream, then chill until firm.

Decorate and serve

13
Add a second, thicker coating of buttercream and smooth over the cake.
14
Use red decorating gel to pipe stripes across the tree and scatter with green sprinkles. Use M&Ms or large sprinkles to add Christmas baubles onto the cake (optional).
15
Transfer your Christmas tree cake to a serving board, slice and serve

Notes

Note 1: If you only have one 9×13 pan, you can bake in batches. Bake the first layer, cool in the pan for 10 minutes then use the baking paper to transfer to a cooling rack. Clean the pan, grease, line and use for the second layer. Make ahead Bake the sheet cake up to 2 days ahead, cover in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. The frosting can be made 3–4 days ahead and kept in an airtight container in the fridge. Bring to room temperature and re-whipped before using. You can assemble and crumb coat the cake the day before, then do the final white icing and decorations on the day so it looks fresh and bright.