search instagram twitter facebook pinterest chevron-right chevron-left email menu cross
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to menu-404 navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Let's Eat Cake

Let's Eat Cake is the lifestyle site for Millennial women. We’re your source for lifestyle, entertainment, fashion, beauty, jokes, puns, food news, coffee trends, and baking recipes.

  • Starbucks
  • Drink Recipes
  • Holidays
  • Nail Ideas
  • Weddings
  • Recipes
  • Jokes + Puns
  • About Us
  • Newsletter
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Terms
© 2025 Let's Eat Cake
  • Starbucks
  • Drink Recipes
  • Nail Ideas
  • Holidays
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St Patrick’s Day
    • Christmas
    • Halloween
    • Holiday Recipes
  • Weddings
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast + Brunch Recipes
    • Cakes
    • Cookies
    • Desserts
    • Snacks
    • TikTok Recipes
  • Jokes + Puns
Home » Holidays » Holiday Recipes

Star-Shaped Cream Tart Cake

By Rebecca Swanner | May 23, 2018 | Updated on June 15, 2023 | 15 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links that we collect a share of sales from. Click here for more details.
1.2K shares
Jump to Recipe
Star Shaped Cream Tart Cake
Star Shaped Cream Tart Cake in Red White and Blue

This summer, surprise your guests with this Cream Tart Cake recipe! This star-shaped dessert, inspired by cookie number cakes, is baked in the shape of a star, so it’s perfect if you need an easy Fourth of July dessert.

Looking for other patriotic dessert recipes? Check out this Fourth of July Candy Bark or these popsicles.

Star Shaped Cream Tart Cake

What Are Cream Tart Cakes?

Cream tart cakes are two cookies separated by a layer of pastry cream or frosting. Once you set the second cookie on top, then pipe more pastry cream and decorate it! For this cream tart take, I use fruit, candies, and some individual star-shaped cookies.

But, you can decorate with everything from candies and smaller cookies to flowers, chocolates, and macarons. The world is your oyster. (Avoid decorating with those.)

The tart cakes were invented by Adi Klingofer, a pastry artist from Israel. Around the beginning of 2018, the baking trend started to take over Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adi Klinghofer (@adikosh_123)

 

How to Make a Cream Tart Cake

1. Roll out your dough between two layers of parchment and place on a baking sheet. Cut out the shapes you want, making sure they’re identical. You can use the extra dough to make more cookie cakes. Below, there are two different sized stars. These would be for two different cakes. I used this cookie cutter set to make the stars.

Sugar cookie dough for star shaped cream tart cake

 

2. Remove the cookie cutters and bake at 350° F for 12 minutes or until edges are just a very light golden brown. Sugar Cookie Base for Cream Tart Cake

 

3. Once the cookies have cooled completely, make the frosting and pipe it onto one cookie.

Pastry Cream on Sugar Cookie Base of Cream Tart Cake

 

4. Stack the second cookie on top of the first. Cover the second cookie with frosting. I use a piping bag fitted with a round tip to pipe on my frosting.

Pastry Cream on Second Layer of Sugar Cookie for Cream Tart Cake

 

5. Once the cookies have been frosting, it’s time to decorate your tart cake! I used strawberries and blueberries, red and blue M&Ms,  roses, Twizzlers, and little star sprinkles I found in my sprinkle drawer! These aren’t quite the same, but they’re close.

Star Shaped Cream Tart Cake

4 Cream Tart Cake Tips

This trendy Instagram number cake tart isn’t hard but these tips will help you nail it the first time.

  • Decorate Quickly
    Decide how you’ll decorate your cream tart cake ahead of time. The frosting is simply stabilized whipped cream, so it doesn’t stay firm for long at room temperature. It’ll hold up long enough to eat, but you want to decorate quickly then pop it back in the fridge.
  • Choose a Design
    I used large star cookie cutters from the Wilton Christmas tree kit, but you can also hand draw a template. Or, if you’re like me and not artistically skilled in the slightest, look in Google images for a stencil in the shape you want! Searching for “star stencil” will bring up a variety of images that you can print out and trace onto a piece of parchment. Cut it out, set it on top of the sugar cookie dough, and cut around your shape with a knife.
  • Don’t Move the Cookies
    Usually, rolling out sugar cookies on a floured surface or parchment paper and then transferring them to the baking sheet is ok. Doing so with this recipe will distort their shape. I roll the cookies out to ¼-inch between two pieces of parchment, remove the top sheet, and then carefully place the other sheet (the one with the cut-out cookie) on the baking sheet. Then, I bake it until the edges are golden brown.
  • Make Enough Frosting
    The frosting amount listed below makes enough for one 8” star cream tart or two 5” tarts. The cookie amount makes enough for four 7” tarts or eight 5” tarts. If you choose to just make one tart, you can easily freeze the leftover dough.

Cream Tart Cake Recipe

4.92 from 12 votes
Print Recipe
Learn how to make a star-shaped cream tart cake inspired by the number cakes on Instagram!
Star Shaped Cream Tart Cake
Prep Time: 1 hour hr 6 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Total Time: 2 hours hrs 36 minutes mins
Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie

  • 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. fine salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream Filling

  • 8 oz. cream cheese (cold)
  • 1 cup heavy cream (cold)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 vanilla bean (optional)

Instructions

Sugar Cookie

  • Preheat oven to 350° F.
  • Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
  • Cream butter and sugar for 3 minutes using electric mixer until mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Add egg to butter mixture and let combine for 30 seconds.
  • Add vanilla.
  • Reduce speed and add flour. Mix until dough starts to come together into a ball.
  • Divide dough in three equal balls and roll first ball between two layers of parchment paper until ¼” thick.
  • Cut out desired matching shapes, re roll scraps as needed. Press unused dough into discs, wrap in plastic, and transfer to freezer to be used for a future recipe.
  • Transfer parchment with cutout cookies to baking sheet.
  • Bake for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are light golden brown.
  • Remove from oven, place on wire rack, and let cookies cool completely.

Cream Filling

  • Beat cream cheese, heavy cream and sugar on high until mixture has thickened, about 4 minutes.
  • Add vanilla.
  • Transfer to pastry bag fitted with round tip.

Cream Tart Cake Assembly

  • Pipe frosting on the sugar cookie that will be the base. Pipe all the way around the edge, then go in slightly and go all the way around again. Repeat until the cookie is covered.
  • Place the matching sugar cookie gently on top.
  • Pipe frosting on the top sugar cookie in the same way, then decorate.

Notes

The cookie cream tart is best enjoyed the same day it is made. If you want to fresh flowers, wait to place these on the cake until just before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Cream Tart Cake Recipe
Amount Per Serving (0.25 of cake)
Calories 591
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Cake, Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cream tart cake
Author: Rebecca Swanner
Did you make this recipe?Leave a review below, then take a photo and tag @letseatcakeblog on Instagram so we can see it!

Star Shaped Cream Tart Cake in Red White and Blue

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Rebecca Swanner
Rebecca Swanner
Pleased to meet you. I'm the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Let's Eat Cake: The world's first smart, funny lifestyle site for women.

My background is in publishing (I've worked at Parade, Men's Journal, Us Weekly, Stuff, Blender, Beachbody, and more), mostly with a focus in health, fitness, and entertainment. I've also run my own baking company and competed on Cupcake Wars, so hit me up with your baking questions!

For more details, check out my full bio or follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Rebecca Swanner
Latest posts by Rebecca Swanner (see all)
  • Is Starbucks Open On Thanksgiving? Here Are Their Hours for Turkey Day 2023 - November 9, 2023
  • Dunkin’s Holiday Menu for 2023 Is Here and Includes Loaded Hash Browns and Cookie Butter Cold Brew - October 6, 2023
  • If You Can’t Find the Starbucks Green Slime Tumbler, These Etsy Ones Are the Next Best Thing - September 12, 2023
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links from Amazon and other sites that we collect a share of sales from.
1.2K shares

Read This Next

14 Must-Have Baking Tools

14 Must-Have Baking Tools

Red, White, and Blue Popsicles

Red, White, and Blue Popsicles

Rainbow Unicorn Cake with Twinkie Filling

Rainbow Unicorn Cake with Twinkie Filling

Red, White, and Blue Bark

Red, White, and Blue Bark

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarKarly says

    May 25, 2018 at 10:03 am

    This is gorgeous! I could see this being a crowd pleaser for summer parties!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Swanner | Let's Eat CakeRebecca Swanner | Let's Eat Cake says

      June 2, 2018 at 11:39 am

      Thank you so much! It’s super easy to make and I think it would be. The cookies can be baked the day before but I’d probably make it the day of because otherwise the cookies absorb the cream frosting and it can get a little soft.

      Reply
  2. AvatarSharon says

    June 4, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    What an adorable cake for 4th of July and beyond. Looks delicious and a great centerpiece as well.

    Reply
  3. Avatarcamila hurst says

    June 4, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    This is so BEAUTIFUL!! Seriously amazing! Perfect for upcoming 4th July!! Love it!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Swanner | Let's Eat CakeRebecca Swanner | Let's Eat Cake says

      June 5, 2018 at 1:44 pm

      Thank you. Definitely consider making the cookies ahead of time to save you time that day!

      Reply
  4. AvatarHaley says

    June 4, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    So perfect for the Fourth of July! Love the step-by-step photos

    Reply
    • Rebecca Swanner | Let's Eat CakeRebecca Swanner | Let's Eat Cake says

      June 5, 2018 at 1:44 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  5. AvatarKelli says

    June 4, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    This looks amazing! Definitely planning to make this for my family’s July 4 gathering!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Swanner | Let's Eat CakeRebecca Swanner | Let's Eat Cake says

      June 5, 2018 at 1:43 pm

      Thanks!!! The cookies are easy to make ahead of time and then just make the frosting and assemble day of. 🙂

      Reply
  6. AvatarAdriana says

    June 4, 2018 at 8:54 pm

    Oh my goodness this is the most beautiful star treat that I have ever seen. So much fun too great for a birthday party I think this is a showstopper. Love it!!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Swanner | Let's Eat CakeRebecca Swanner | Let's Eat Cake says

      June 5, 2018 at 1:43 pm

      Thank you so much!

      Reply
  7. AvatarJere says

    June 4, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    I loved seeing how this was made. It is so gorgeous. Pinned for later.

    Reply
    • Rebecca Swanner | Let's Eat CakeRebecca Swanner | Let's Eat Cake says

      June 5, 2018 at 1:43 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  8. AvatarJessica says

    May 19, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    Hi! The ingredients list says vanilla extract & then vanilla bean optional but it’s not specifically mentioned in the instructions on how or when to use the bean…it just says add vanilla…..so my question is, What’s up with how & when to use the bean??? ????

    Reply
    • Rebecca SwannerRebecca Swanner says

      May 19, 2021 at 4:15 pm

      Hi Jessica – you can add the seeds when you add the vanilla to the filling 🙂

      Reply
4.92 from 12 votes (6 ratings without comment)

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.
Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Trending Now

Footer

  • About Us
  • Press
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Contact
  • News
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • Subscribe
© 2016–2025 Let's Eat Cake
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
1.2K shares
1.2K shares

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.