Number Cake Recipe | Alphabet Cake | How to Make Cream Tart
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Decorative Cream Tart recipe, also known as Numbers cake or letter cake or Alphabet Cake. This cake is super trendy on Instagram. Basically it is tart based cake with delicious mascarpone cream, decorated with fresh fruits, meringue, flowers and more. This cake is perfect for birthday or any special occasion.
Number Cake Recipe | Alphabet Cake | How to Make Cream Tart
Ingredients
For the Cookie Layers (Almond Shortcrust):
- 2½ cups (300 g) All-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (75 g) Ground almonds (almond flour)
- ⅔ cup (75 g) Powdered sugar
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (200 g) Butter cold and cubed
- 1 Egg Large
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For the Cream:
- 1¾ cups (400 g) Mascarpone or cream cheese *read notes
- 1⅔ cups (400 ml) Heavy cream cold
- 1¼ cups (150 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste or extract
For Decoration (choose freely):
- Macarons
- Strawberries or other berries
- Chocolate
- Meringue kisses
- Edible flowers
- Cookies of choice
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Make the dough: In a food processor, pulse flour, ground almonds, powdered sugar, salt, and cold butter until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
- Add egg and vanilla, then pulse just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix. Transfer to the counter, gently bring into a dough disk, wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Roll the dough: Roll the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment to about ¼ inch / 5–6 mm thickness. Chill the rolled dough for 20–30 minutes so cutting is easier.
- Cut the numbers: Place your printed number/letter template (see notes) on top and cut around it. Transfer the cut dough to a baking tray. Re-roll scraps, chill again, and cut a second identical shape. Each cake requires two cookie layers.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 10–13 minutes, until edges turn lightly golden. Cool completely before assembling; warm cookies will break.
- Make the cream: In a large bowl, beat mascarpone with powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add cold heavy cream and whip until stable, fluffy peaks form. Transfer cream to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
- Assemble: Pipe cream dollops across the first cookie layer. Gently place the second cookie on top. Pipe another layer of cream and decorate generously. Chill at least 1–2 hours before serving so the layers soften slightly and slice cleanly.
Video
Notes
- Yield: This recipe makes one number or letter cake with two cookie layers. For double digits (10, 25, etc.), double the recipe.
- Size guide: Using an A4 template (standard printer paper) with the number filling the whole page creates a cake about 11–12 inches tall, serving 8–12 people.
- Print templates in advance: Print and cut number or letter templates before rolling dough to make the process smoother.
- Use a kitchen scale: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe. The dough and cream ratios need to stay precise for clean cutting and proper structure, and measuring by weight gives consistent results every time.
- Mascarpone vs. Cream Cheese: Mascarpone gives the filling its light, silky texture and delicate flavor, making it the best choice for this cake. However, you can substitute with full-fat cream cheese if preferred. The result will be slightly tangier and a bit firmer, but still delicious.
- Don’t Over-Process the Dough: Once the dough starts coming together, stop mixing. Over-processing develops gluten and warms the butter, which can make the cookies tough instead of tender and cause spreading during baking.
- Cream stability tip: If serving outdoors, in warm weather, or just prefer a stable cream, you can stabilize the cream by adding: 2–4 tbsp instant vanilla pudding powder or 100 g melted & cooled white chocolate.
- Make ahead: Cookie layers can be baked 2–3 days ahead and stored airtight. They also freeze well for up to 1 month. Assemble the cake the same day of serving.
- Storage: This cake is at its best on the day it’s assembled, when the cookies are still slightly crisp and the cream is fresh and fluffy. You can keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 2 days, but keep in mind the cookie layers will continue to soften as they absorb moisture from the cream, becoming more cake-like and delicate.
- Transport tip: Assemble the cake directly on the serving board and transport chilled.
Nutrition
Calories: 484kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 9gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 21gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 101mgSodium: 99mgPotassium: 78mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1165IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 2mg
This is the best cake I’ve ever made and I’m just 14… It’s so good and easy <3 So damn delicious 😋😍😋
How many servings would you say one number provides roughly? In the A4 size. I’m looking at making a 4 and a 0. Thank you!
Hard to tell extactly, I would say one number is about 8 servings.
omg it was delicious, i made it for my birthday everyone has loved it. so thank you so much for this recipe! 🤭
Hello, why A3 size isn’t recommend?
The instructions say to beat the cheese and powdered sugar and then add the whipping cream. That seemed not right to me but I followed the instructions. Gently mixing in my stand mixer then adding the liquid (heavy whipping cream) Complete disaster! Expensive complete disaster! It only became soupy with globs of mascarpone.
I find it hard to believe that anyone genuinely had success with this recipe.
I did <3 And this is the second time a make it <3
Hi,
I’ve made this dough twice. The first time it came out perfectly and I could pick up the letter with no problem.
The second time I made it the letter would crumble when I tried to pick it up. Not sure what I did wrong since I followed the recipe exactly both times.
Crumbles is normal sometimes and you can stick it back with half-melted chocolate with some whip cream if needed..
I’ve tried making the dough for this cake three times abd each time it comes out crumbly and not doughy. I triple checked the ingredients and measurements but it just doesn’t work. Any advice on what can be going wrong?
Next time when you mix the cold butter and the rest of the ingredients, try letting it to get mixed for 5 minutes for the best result. It might crumble a little after baking but its a normal process…
is ground almond the same as almond flour?
No… But you can you bread crumbs instead if you don’t have.
Is it possible to make the cream with chocolate. How much should I add? Bitter or milk?
Thanks,
You can melt some chocolate with whipping cream and mix it with the cream cheese… I used it and it worked good…
Hey I was just wondering if I could make this cake with out the food processor?
Mine just broke and I wanted to make the cake still….
Yes, you can. it would be harder to make, but it’s possible.
Hey I was just wondering if I could make this cake with out the food processor?
Mine just broke and I wanted to make the cake still….
This is my go to recipe as a cake baker for my number cakes. Any tips for making this gluten free for someone ? Do I just omit the flour and use GF flour? Any tricks to make it a little sturdier ?
Hello! I had a question I have tried the cream tart and it’s delicious, would I be able to use the same recipe to make the shell of a 9” fruit tart? If so, what would you recommend The baking time should be? Thank you!!
Tried this recipe on the weekend. Very simple but bit of time consuming as I needed a double digit cake. Definitely different from the usual and makes the occasion beautiful.
Thank you for the recipe.
I am going to be doing this but in a chocolate form and putting a cheesecake filling instead of buttercream. To decorate it will have mini biscuits cut from left over dough and mini meringues as well as an assortment of mini chocolates.
Fingers crossed it works out for me.
Really good recipe. Thanks!
Could you use half mascarpone and half cream cheese because I only have 8 oz of mascarpone?
House
What type of flour is needed please? I’m from the UK if that helps! Thank you
Cake flour will be good.
Hi, how is the texture of the crust after cooking, can you cut it easily? Or it breaks? Thanks
Hi it should be soft in the middle and a golden crust on the outside
Hi
How big is this cake?
A4 size
Is it possible to use this recipe but make it chocolate flavoured if so how much cocoa for the biscuit and mascarpone?
Also will it hold up the same way ?
I doubled this recipe for a double digit number, and wow did I not need to! Don’t know if I made the numbers too small, but I ended up making 8 numbers and still having dough left over 😂 a bowl full of icing left over, too. But it all tasted amazing!
I also doubled the mix for 2 numbers – have a vast amount of the cream left over! Can it be frozen?
Maybe if it’s in an airtight container? I used what I could for a batch of macarons and dumped the rest, since it wasn’t holding up after a few days in the fridge.
Hi what is the texture of the cookie meant to be once it is cooked? Crunchy? Soft?
This turned out amazing and delicious! Absolutely loved it and it brightened my 13 year old cousins day when she saw it!!
Are we suppose to keep first layer of cake and icing over it in fridge,Inorder to avoid cream to get squished when we will put next layer of cake. If yes hen god how long?
I don’t know if it withholds with out refrigeration to be honest.. but i put cream on first layer placed in fridge done the next number placed in fridge then took one out placed the second layer ontop slowly and it held nicely as the cookie is really light anyway! Hope this helps
How does one cut and serve this kind of cake? Will the cookies crumble?
I assume it must be regrigerated?
Should i make the cake the day before and is it possible for me to leave it overnight in the refrigerator without ruining it?
Yeah you can.