Introduction

This Pull-Apart Santa Cake is a fun and festive way to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Made from decorated cupcakes arranged into Santa’s face and hat, it’s both a delightful centerpiece and an easy dessert to share. Perfect for holiday parties or a Christmas gathering.

The image shows a Santa Claus shaped cupcake cake arranged on a white marbled surface. The top of Santa’s hat has two layers of bright red swirled frosting, forming a triangle shape. Below the hat, Santa’s face is covered with smooth light pink frosting. Two Oreo cookies serve as eyes, connected with small red candy canes making the glasses frame extending to the sides of the face. The mustache and eyebrows are made with white swirled frosting lines. Around the face, as Santa’s beard and hat trim, there are many white swirled frosting cupcakes giving a fluffy texture. To the side, there is a white bowl filled with small candy canes, and a single cupcake with white frosting sits nearby. Photo taken with an iphone --ar 4:5 --v 7

Ingredients

Cooking spray
2 (15.25-oz.) boxes vanilla cake mix, plus ingredients called for on box
4 (16-oz.) cans store-bought vanilla frosting, divided
Red food gel coloring
Brown food gel coloring (optional)
1 Oreo, divided into wafer halves
3 mini candy canes
2 piping bags, a large star tip

Instructions

Step 1: Grease 4 standard 12-cup muffin tins with cooking spray and line each with cupcake liners. Prepare the cupcake batter according to the cake mix box instructions and divide the batter evenly among the lined cups.
Step 2: Bake cupcakes as directed on the cake mix boxes. After baking, let them cool slightly, then refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.
Step 3: In a small bowl, mix 3 cups of frosting with 1 to 2 drops of red food coloring; add more drops until you reach your desired red shade. In another small bowl, mix ½ cup white frosting with 1 to 2 drops of red food coloring to create a pale pink color. For different skin tones, add brown food coloring until you achieve the shade you want. Fill one piping bag fitted with a star tip with the red frosting and the other with the remaining white frosting.
Step 4: Arrange the cupcakes on a platter to form Santa’s shape: start with a row of 3 cupcakes at the top, followed by rows of 2, 3, 4, 5, two rows of 6, then 5, 8, and lastly 6. Shape the bottom three rows into a half-moon for the beard. Shift the top row of 3 cupcakes to one side and angle it downward to create the hat’s floppy tip.
Step 5: Using an offset spatula, spread the pale pink or brown frosting in the center of the fifth, sixth, and seventh rows to create Santa’s face. Use white frosting to swirl rose shapes on the cupcakes below the face for the beard and on cupcakes beside the face. Fill any gaps between roses with smaller white frosting swirls. Pipe the brim of the hat with one continuous squiggle of white frosting and add a white swirl at the hat’s tip.
Step 6: Dollop frosting onto 2 Oreo wafer halves and place them as eyes on the face. Use white frosting to pipe eyebrows and a mustache. Add a small dollop of red frosting above the mustache to form the nose.
Step 7: Clean the star tip and refill the piping bag with red frosting. Pipe red rose swirls on the unfrosted cupcakes to complete Santa’s hat.
Step 8: Break the curved part off 2 candy canes. Place one straight candy cane piece between the Oreo wafer eyes to form the bridge of the glasses, and insert the curved parts sticking out on each side to create the frames of Santa’s glasses.

Tips & Variations

For richer color, use gel food coloring instead of liquid as it won’t alter frosting consistency.
Try using chocolate cupcakes instead of vanilla for a different flavor and contrast with the frosting colors.
Substitute store-bought frosting with homemade buttercream for a more personal touch.
Add edible glitter or sprinkles to the hat for extra festive sparkle.

Storage

Cover the Pull-Apart Santa Cake loosely with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow cupcakes to come to room temperature before serving. Reheat only if desired by warming individual cupcakes in the microwave for 10–15 seconds; avoid warming the entire arrangement.

How to Serve

A cupcake cake shaped like Santa Claus is shown on a white marbled surface. The cake has three main parts: the top hat made of red frosting swirls, the face with smooth pink frosting, and the beard with large creamy white frosting swirls. Santa’s eyes are made of two black sandwich cookies, eyebrows and mouth are white frosting lines, and the nose is a small red candy piece. Two small candy canes form the glasses around the eyes. The base cupcakes are all covered with creamy white frosting swirls to form the beard and hat trim. A woman's hand with blue nail polish is pulling a cupcake from the bottom right area of the cake. In the background are a white bowl with several small candy canes and a white plate with black sandwich cookies. Photo taken with an iphone --ar 4:5 --v 7

Serve this delicious recipe with your favorite sides.

FAQs

Can I make the cupcake batter from scratch instead of using a mix?

Yes, you can use your favorite homemade vanilla cupcake recipe. Just be sure to bake the cupcakes in standard-sized muffin tins and adjust baking time as needed.

How far in advance can I assemble the Pull-Apart Santa Cake?

It’s best assembled the day of your event for freshest appearance. You can bake and frost the cupcakes a day ahead, refrigerate them, then arrange and decorate the cake shortly before serving.