Kit Kat Cake
A Kit Kat cake way more exciting than just a ring of Kit Kats around the outside - this cake is decked out in a chocolate ganache drip and a pile of Kit Kat bars!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 775kcal
Equipment
- 1 Cake turntable (optional, but makes decorating so much faster and easier!)
- 1 large offset spatula (to spread frosting)
- 1 cake scraper or pastry cutter (to smooth frosting)
- 1 small piping bag + tips (for decorating; linked is my favorite set for over 3 years now)
Ingredients
Cake
- 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 softened (2 sticks/250g)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups 350mL buttermilk (buttermilk powder with water is an option if you can’t find liquid buttermilk at your grocery store!)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup crushed Kit Kat pieces
Frosting
- 8 oz one package cream cheese, softened
- 16 Tablespoons two sticks butter, softened
- 6-7 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
Drip & Decorations
- 6 oz 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 oz ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 bag mini-size Kit Kat bars I chopped about 16 to fill the cake, and used about as many to decorate the top!
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180C) or 325 F (160C) for a convection oven. Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured spray (or line with parchment rounds).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in bits of softened butter until it’s no longer visible in the dry ingredients and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds. Stir in crushed Kit Kat bars.
- 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.
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them - this can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. 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 piped a rim of frosting around the outer edge and filled the cake with chopped Kit Kats and a drizzle of chocolate ganache. Optional but recommended! Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like - 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 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and cake scraper for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the freezer to set the frosting and to chill the cake in preparation for adding the ganache drip!
Drip & Decorations
- Okay - the fun part! Decorating! When your ganache has cooled to a moderate temperature – it should feel slightly warm but still be fairly liquid – add a few ‘smears’ around your cake base, layering them a bit up the side for an ‘ombre’ effect.
- Transfer your remaining ganache 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 bit more difficult to work with. Slowly drizzle ganache around the upper edge of your cake, pausing every inch or so to let more ganache fall in a drip down the side of the cake. Return cake to the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to set the drips.
- Now – add a few swirls of frosting, and start piling on Kit Kat bars! I used a few un-cut ones spaced around the top, then started layering on cut and crushed bars to create a Kit Kat rim around the top of the cake. Do whatever you think looks the best! More candy=more better in my book. :: wink::
Video
Notes
Make this Kit Kat Cake? Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 775kcal | Carbohydrates: 102g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 39g