Why you'll love this cake:
- Cake and frosting 100% homemade
- Perfect blend of chocolate and peanut butter - in the cake as well as the surprise center! Speaking of which...
- SUPER fun to serve because of the cascade of Reese's candy that spills out when the cake is cut!
- Peanut butter frosting is arguably one of the best things on the planet 😉
FAQs:
“How do I store this cake?”
Before serving, I prefer storing cakes in cake boxes – they help keep the cake from drying out without any plastic wrap touching the sides of the cake and potentially messing up the decorations! I place cakes in the fridge if storing overnight but allow them to come to room temperature before serving.
Cover any remaining cake well after serving to keep it from drying out - it will keep at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for 3-5 days.
"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.
"Do I have to make the cake / frosting from scratch?"
Absolutely not if you don't want to! You can substitute 2 of your favorite chocolate cake mixes plus the ingredients the mix calls for; keep the baking pans the same!
You may have some trouble finding peanut butter frosting, but you can use chocolate frosting or mix peanut butter into vanilla frosting! Store-bought frosting is usually a little thinner than my recipe; add a 1/4 cup of extra powdered sugar at a time until you reach a consistency that spreads and stays in place on the cake well.
Reese's Candy-Filled Cake
The only thing better than a Reese's cake...? A Reese's candy-filled cake with Reese's pieces and peanut butter cups in the center!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 795kcal
Equipment
- medium biscuit cutter (or you can use a glass; to remove cake layer centers)
- plastic cake scraper / pastry cutter (no idea why, but plastic scrapers worked much better for this frosting!)
- 1 Squeeze bottle (or piping bag or a spoon - whatever you'd prefer to add the ganache drip)
Ingredients
Reese's Candy-filled cake layers
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (350 grams)
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar (450 grams)
- 1 1/4 cup cocoa powder (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (250 grams /16 Tablespoons, softened)
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 350mL; buttermilk powder with water is an option if you can’t find liquid buttermilk at your grocery store!
- 2 teaspoons 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
Ganache (for drip)
- 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
- 6 oz heavy whipping cream (3/4 cup)
- 1 bag Reese’s Pieces candy
- 24-30 Reese’s peanut butter cups
Instructions
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, then 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.
- Use a glass or medium-sized biscuit cutter to remove center from two of the three cake layers (so you can fill the cake with candy!)
- Ensure cake layers are well-cooled or chilled before decorating. This is a great time to start prepping your frosting and ganache for the filling and drip!
Peanut Butter Frosting / 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!
- Place a few smears of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cored cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting. Fill the cored center with Reese’s Pieces candy and quartered Reese’s cups (I think I used 4 or so per layer).
- Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers, and add the un-cored cake 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.
- Pipe peanut butter frosting in swirls around the upper rim of your cake – I used the large star tip from the piping tip set that I linked above – alternating with Reese’s cups. This will help hold the candy on top in place! Pile Reese’s pieces candy and more quartered Reese’s cups on top of the cake – I mounded mine a bit so they would show over the frosting/Reese’s cup rim. I also added some more candy to the base of the cake (this is optional, but I liked the color it added to the cake base).
- Annnd you’re done! Step back and admire your kick-butt cake!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 795kcal | Carbohydrates: 103g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 41g
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
How do you keep the candies inside from getting gooey? Each time I’ve done cakes like this the items inside can’t survive the residual moisture from the cake. Suggestions?
Honestly, I’ve had the same issue – I filled a cake with M&Ms once, and after a night in the fridge they came out super discolored and weird-textured. :/ Since then, I just fill and decorate cakes like this the day I serve them ( slash take pictures/video, lol). I usually make the cake layers and frosting ahead of time, and sometimes I’ll stack and crumb coat the first couple layers ahead of time, but final assembly kinda has to wait for day-of to keep the filling from getting weird. Hope this helps! Any other questions let me know 🙂
What kind of peanut butter did you use for the frosting? Does it contain sugar and salt? Thanks! Looking forward to trying the recipe
It was a generic brand from a Fred Meyer, I think. Yes, it contained sugar and salt. 🙂 Good luck; let me know how it goes!