"Do it the same, but better."
I think that was part of a sound byte that made the rounds on TikTok a while back (?) It came to mind as I was making Peanut M&Ms drip cake!
Not too long ago I re-made one of my favorite M&Ms cakes. Mid-process, the idea to make another version with peanut M&Ms crossed my mind! I stocked up on Peanut M&Ms and peanut butter, and got to work. This was one of my earlier attempts at peanut butter frosting. The recipe tastes AMAZING, but smoothing it gave me a bit of grief at first. Tips for dealing with that below! (Hint: plastic over metal scrapers saved me on this one!)
Not only did I love how it turned out...I almost think I like this Peanut M&Ms drip cake better than its plain-chocolate predecessor! I mean, what can really beat peanut butter and chocolate?
Recipe and instructions below!
WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS CAKE:
- Rich chocolate cake layers and peanut butter frosting - both 100% homemade! Both are straightforward recipes that only take one bowl each to make.
- Both the cake and decorations are the perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter! (And is there a combination better than that?)
- Also - peanut butter frosting is arguably one of the best things on the planet 😉 (Okay, and it doesn't hurt that Peanut M&Ms are delicious all by themselves!)
- Chocolate ganache drip takes just 2 ingredients!
FAQS:
"Any tips if I've never added a drip to a cake before?"
- Short answer - yes! 😉 First off - don't stress! If you're worried about it I can almost promise it's easier than you probably think it is! 🙂
- First-most-important tip I can give you - make sure you measure your chocolate and heavy cream carefully + accurately. Too much/little of either may affect your drip consistency.
- Second most important tip I can give you - I really recommend trying a test drip first! Save yourself the headache of trying to scrape off a too-thick or too-runny drip. Don't pour the ganache over your whole cake until you're confident in the consistency of your ganache.
- I loved this YouTube tutorial by Sugar&Sparrow when I was new to cake drips!
"Can I make the cake / frosting ahead of time?"
Definitely! Wrap the cake layers well and refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 4 months. Transfer the frosting to a zip-lock bag and squeeze out the extra air, and again - refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 4 months.
"How should I store this cake?"
- Before serving, if you're only storing it for a few hours before serving I'd keep it in the fridge. (Just because of the cream cheese in the frosting.)
Cover any remaining cake well to keep it from drying out. Well-wrapped, it will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. (Maybe longer, I just haven't personally checked past that timeframe.)
(Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts often contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!)
Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Peanut M&Ms Drip Cake
One of my most popular cakes - with a peanut twist! This Peanut M&Ms drip cake features peanut butter frosting, a ganache drip, and a fun anti-gravity topper!
Equipment
- 1 Squeeze bottle (or piping bag or a spoon; to add ganache drip)
- 1 long wood skewer (or cake dowel or straw) (to hold M&Ms box on top of cake)
Ingredients
Chocolate cake layers
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (350g)
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar (450g)
- 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (100g)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks/250g, softened)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (350mL; buttermilk powder with water is an option if you can’t find liquid buttermilk at your grocery store!)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese one package, softened
- 16 Tablespoons butter two sticks, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter 8 ounces
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
Chocolate ganache (for drip)
- 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup
- 6 oz heavy whipping cream 3/4 cup
Additional Decorations
- 1 box Peanut M&Ms candy (available in most grocery stores / in bulk online)
- 1 bag Peanut M&Ms candy (mine was a 38oz bag, but I had some leftover)
- 1 cup peanuts, dry roasted
Instructions
Chocolate cake layers
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180C) or 325 FC (160C) for a convection oven. Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with non-stick or baker's floured spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low for a minute to combine dry ingredients. Add softened butter 1 Tablespoon at a time until well incorporated into the dry ingredients and no lumps of butter are visible.
- Next, whisk eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla together until well combined. With the mixer on low, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a steady stream until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds.
- Fill the three pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 550g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once your cake layers are cool, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler.
- Ensure cake layers are well-cooled or chilled before decorating. This is a great time to start prepping your frosting and ganache!
Peanut Butter Frosting & Chocolate Ganache
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; beat in peanut butter until thoroughly combined. Slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency.
- Meanwhile, make your ganache. Place chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Add whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until smooth.
- This peanut butter frosting recipe has a different texture than buttercream frostings, and I found plastic spatulas and cake scrapers worked a little better than my metal ones to spread/smooth the frosting! You'll see in the video I struggled to smooth the frosting a bit; I found thinning it down with more milk helps if it's not smoothing well.
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting. I chopped a handful of peanut M&Ms to add between the layers, but this is optional.
- Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers, adding your last layer on top.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. Again, I used a small plastic knife and plastic bench scraper. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge or freezer to set the frosting.
Decorating
- Okaaaay...the drip! When your ganache has cooled to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm and still be fairly liquid – transfer it to a squeeze bottle or piping bag. A spoon will work if you don’t have either of those, I’ve just found spoons to be a tiny bit more difficult to work with.
- Slowly drizzle ganache around the upper edge of your cake, pausing every inch or so to let ganache fall in a drip down the side of the cake. Return cake to the fridge for about 10 minutes to set the drips.
- Open the box of M&Ms and insert your skewer (or straw, or whatever) into the box. I cut a side tab off so that I could close the box, but you could also leave all four tabs open. Invert the box and press the skewer down into the top of the cake.
- Pipe peanut butter frosting in small swirls around the upper rim of your cake – this will help hold the candy and peanuts in place! Add Peanut M&Ms to the top of the cake - pile them as high as you like! ;) I also added a few frosting swirls, M&Ms, and peanuts around the base of the cake.
- Annnd you’re done! Step back and admire your kick-butt cake!
Video
Notes
Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 795kcalCarbohydrates: 103gProtein: 9gFat: 41g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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