Go Back
–+ servings
Peanut M&Ms cake
Print Recipe

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!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Decorating time35 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Peanut M&Ms Cake, Peanut M&Ms Drip Cake
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 795kcal
Author: Sarah H

Equipment

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)

Additional Decorations

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: 1slice | Calories: 795kcal | Carbohydrates: 103g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 41g