Snickers Cake
Tomorrow would have been – should have been – my dad’s 60th birthday. You may remember that last year on his birthday, I shared with you his very favorite cake, the one he would always request for his birthday. It’s a fabulous cake – a moist, chocolate cake with a river of cheesecake running through the middle and topped with sugared walnuts. It’s a very worthy birthday cake. However, if he were still here, I would have insisted on making something different and more elaborate than the cake he requested every year since it would be the big 6-0. I have no doubt that he would have been completely smitten with this cake and found every excuse in the world to eat piece after piece.
When we were kids, my dad apparently got some routine blood work done that showed his cholesterol as borderline high. My mom banished sweets from the house (my dad was an ice cream fanatic) and started whipping up homemade banana-nut oat bran muffins. The only problem? He went to work for eight hours a day. My dad worked for a small company not far from where we lived, so sometimes if we were out, my mom would stop by for a visit. One day we walked into his office and my sister and I saw tons of candy bar wrappers in his garbage can. Apparently, my dad was a big Snickers fan. You know little kids love to tattle… especially if they get to tattle on their parents. It took all of two seconds for my sister and I to let my mom in on our discovery. We totally busted my dad for sneaking candy at work while my mom was making batch-after-batch of bran muffins. Sorry Dad!
I’ve had the idea for this cake bouncing around in my head since last summer, but remembering that moment of finding those candy bar wrappers, I knew I wanted to save the recipe to commemorate my dad’s birthday. I’m so glad that I did – it’s definitely a special occasion cake that he would have absolutely appreciated.
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I started with the chocolate cake that I used for the six-layer chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow filling and malted chocolate frosting, only left it at three layers instead of dividing it into six. For the filling, I used the peanut nougat from the homemade Snickers bar recipe, along with a smear of salted caramel sauce. I then frosted the whole cake with a thin layer of salted caramel buttercream and topped it with a milk chocolate ganache and chopped peanuts. That’s a mouthful!
Like I said, I totally delved into “special occasion” cake territory here, and it might be one of the best cakes that I’ve ever made. It truly tastes just like a Snickers bar. If I had to guess, it’s the nougat filling that totally makes it.
As is always the case, commemorating the birthday of someone who is no longer with us is bittersweet. I love to think about the time we shared, but of course wish that he were still here. It’s been a little over 14 years since he passed away and I was only a week past my 18th birthday when it happened. As I get closer to having spent just as much of my life without him as I did with him, it’s a strange feeling, but I continue to relish all of the wonderful memories of the time I did get to share with him. This cake is a celebration of that time, and of him.
Happy Birthday, Dad! I know you would love this cake… I’ll have a slice for you :) xoxo
One year ago: Orange Cookies with Sweet Orange Glaze
Two years ago: My Top 15 Favorite Indulgences
Three years ago: Honey-Vanilla Sour Cream Pound Cake
Snickers Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (86 g) + 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) salt
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (360 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (355.5 ml) strong black coffee, hot
- ¾ cup (163.5 ml) vegetable oil
- 4½ teaspoons (4.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
For the Nougat Filling:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (64 ml) evaporated milk
- 1½ cups (190.5 g) marshmallow fluff
- ¼ cup (64.5 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (219 g) salted peanuts, roughly chopped
For the Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (56.5 g) salted caramel sauce
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
For the Milk Chocolate Ganache:
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) milk chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 ounces (113.4 ml) ½ cup heavy cream
For the Assembly / Garnish:
- Additional salted caramel sauce
- Chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, grease the parchment, then flour the insides of the pans, tapping out excess; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer (or large mixing bowl if you're using a hand mixer), sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for an additional 20 seconds (the batter will be very thin).
- Divide the batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate the pans in the oven. Continue to bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs), about 12 more minutes. Cool the cakes (in the pans) on wire racks for 20 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
- Make the Nougat Filling: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and evaporated milk, stirring until dissolved, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from heat and add the marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, and vanilla extract, stirring until completely smooth. Fold in the peanuts. Let the nougat mixture cool to room temperature before using it in the cake. You can do this leaving it at room temperature or you can pop it into the refrigerator to speed up the process. Be sure to give a stir occasionally as it cools.
- Make the Frosting: Beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 5 minutes (I like to use the whisk attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer, but it's not necessary). Pour in the salted caramel and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it has all been incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional two to three minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Assemble the Cake: If your cakes baked up uneven or have domed on top, level off the tops. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Cover with half of the nougat filling and then spread a couple spoonfuls of the salted caramel sauce over top to evenly cover the nougat filling. Top with a second cake layer and cover with the remaining nougat filling and top with caramel sauce. Place the final cake layer on top face-down. Frost the cake with the salted caramel frosting, finishing it as smoothly as possible. Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour, until the frosting is set.
- Make the Chocolate Ganache: While the cake chills, make the chocolate ganache. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside. Place the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and warm until it just comes to a boil. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Begin whisking the mixture in the center, gradually working your way outward until the ganache is completely smooth. Set aside to cool, whisking occasionally, until it has thickened slightly, yet still a pourable consistency.
- Garnish the Cake: Transfer the ganache to a 2-cup measuring cup. Slowly pour the chocolate ganache into the center of the cake, letting it push itself outward and flow over the sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes, giving the ganache a chance to set up. To finish garnishing, drizzle some additional salted caramel sauce over the top and side of the cake, and top with chopped peanuts. Keep the cake refrigerated, removing it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This cake is to die for! Thanks for sharing. The only problem I had was with the salted caramel sauce (no I did not burn it). However, when I added the butter, the melted sugar instantly turned hard as a rock. Rather than pitch it, I added the heavy cream and put it back on the burner, stirring it constantly til some of the sugar rocks had dissolved into the butter/cream. Finally I added the salt and picked out the remaining “sugar rocks”. What was left was really, really GOOD and usuable on this cake. Not sure what I did wrong, but it turned out just fine. :-)
What an awesome cake.
I just spotted this cake and thought I MUST make this for my teenaged son who missed getting a ‘special occasion’ cake for his birthday this year because we were away at the time. However, when I read through the recipe and tallied up the sugar to 6 CUPS (!!!!) I began to doubt that I could in good conscience serve it to my family. Do you think there’s a way to cut the sugar and still produce a tasty cake? We lived in France for a while and became accustomed to their desserts which are delicious works of art but aren’t overly sweet, but I’m just not sure how reducing the sugar would affect the success of a recipe like this.
Hi Alison, I have not made this cake using less sugar, so if you reduce the sugar I can’t guarantee how the cake will turn out. Good luck!
My first time to your site and decided to take on this cake project as a late b-day dinner for my uncle and I couldn’t have made a better choice! All of the components were more than delicious on their own and together it was delectable. I’d like to especially thank you for the salted caramel sauce, it’s one of my favorite flavor combinations and I can’t wait try it on everything :)
Loved loved this cake !!! Been looking forward to making it and well worth the wait !!!! My only suggestion was we added and extra 1/2 cup of peanut butter to the nouget to get more peanut butter taste since the chocolate in the cake is so rich ( and were huge peanut butter lovers !) Balanced out really nice – Great recipe !!! Everyone loved it !
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for all the lovely recipes, I’m buying my first set of round baking pans, so I’m going to buy two 8″ pans, but I am confused about the height, should I go with 2″ or 3″ height? What do you use in your layered cakes?
Thanks again.
Hi Riham, I use pans that are 2 inches high. I will say, though, that you might want to buy three pans for cakes such as these where you bake them in three layers.
Thanks
Just wanted to share with you that I made this cake for a good friend’s 40th birthday and it was a huge hit. It is a bit time consuming but totally worth it. Thank you again for a great post!!!
Thanks so very much for posting this recipe, I have been looking, and looking and looking for a recipe like this for some time to make for my daughters 21st bday coming up and I can tell it’s an awesome recipe just by looking at it, and I am very close to my parents also so I’m very sorry about your dad, I know I cherish everyday I can with all my family. God Bless.
My dad would have loved this cake as well…your post brought tears to my eyes. I will make this to commemorate my daddy as well…God bless.
This cake looks so dangerous but I have to make it! Thanks for this.
Amazing! If it’s wrong to lick my computer screen then I don’t want to be right.
I’m eager to try this recipe! Is there anyway to make the nougat without marshmallow fluff? I’m not sure I can find it in my country. Also, how crazy would it be to try to whisk everything by hand…?
Hi Lucy, I know there are some recipes for homemade marshmallow cream floating around if you check on Google – you could use that as a substitute. You could whisk together the cake filling probably without consequence, but whisking the frosting together would probably be slightly difficult. If you have a hand mixer, I would recommend using that.
Made this today – it was amazing! Great recipe!
I’m sure your dad would have loved this cake! I’m thinking I should make this for my mom for her birthday! Gorgeous cake.
My dad was a huge Snickers fan too! He passed away the day after his 45th birthday in 2005–I was 15. I think that I might have to make this cake for his birthday this year. Normally my sister and I celebrate with his favorite chocolates, but you’ve inspired me to go a step beyond this year :)
Such a sweet tribute, Michelle, and a very lovely cake! Sounds like your dad would’ve loved it, and also be very proud of your blog! Sorry he left this world at such a young age. xoxo
Oh. My. God. This looks unbelievable.
I’m so sorry that you lost your dad at such an early age. No amount of time ever feels like enough, but that is far too soon.
Someone else mentioned not liking coffee, and I was wondering if you could use something else, like maybe hot chocolate, instead? I wouldn’t want to eliminate the liquid, but I don’t like coffee.
Hi Amy, I actually am not a coffee drinker either, have never liked the stuff. However, I’m a huge advocate of using coffee and espresso powder in chocolate baked goods – you truly CANNOT taste it and it really amplifies the chocolate flavor.
My brother would have/should have been 61 this coming April 29. He died at 43 and left a wife and three kids. His oldest bakes him an angel food cake for every birthday. Your dad is Proud. I know he’s watching down
This cake looks amazing! thinking about making it for a friends birthday. I hate to substitute anything, but for those of us with little time, would a boxed chocolate cake work, you think? thanks!
Hi Meredyth, One box of cake mix will not be enough for three layers. This cake really doesn’t take much longer to assemble from scratch than a box cake mix; I highly recommend making it from scratch – this recipe in particular is far superior to any chocolate cake from a box I’ve had!
Thanks!!
I just wanted to pipe in to agree with Michelle. I find that making from scratch adds something like 2 minutes to the entire process. Much easier than people think!
Thanks!
I know this is going to sound crazy, but is there a way to make the nougat filling without peanuts/peanut butter? My husband has developed a late-in-life allergy to peanuts. I really want to make this but would feel bad if I couldn’t share it with the whole family.
Thanks as always for awesome recipes!
Hi Alice, You could omit the peanuts altogether and then substitute the peanut butter with almond or cashew butter.
Hello,
For the nougat filling if i don’t have marshmallow puff what can I substitute?
Aw, I am totally going to make this for my dad at Father’s Day. He’s all about Snickers. Great dads think alike!
Beautiful tribute to a man who was loved and loved! Thank you for allowing me to step into your life which has made me both laugh and cry. I can totally see my husband in your dad. He has high cholesterol, is on cholesterol meds and found out he polished off a whole package of Oreo cookies in three days! Ugh!!! :-)
Making this today for my daughter and son-in-law’s anniversary!!! Looks amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Lucy
I remember last year’s post too and it and this both brought a tear to my eye. I’m so sorry you lost your dad so young but it is so nice that you make a special point to remember him on his birthday. This cake seems like a wonderful birthday treat!
This post made me cry. Cake isn’t supposed to do that!! I lost my dad coming up on 9 years ago. I was 23. We (my brother & sisters & I) do the same thing– I make him birthday cakes. We try to spend lots of time thinking about all the happy funny things. It’s weird though, right? Anyway— I think you’d be hard pressed to find a dad that would not be completely in love with this cake. Sorry to get all sentimental in your comments. I just felt like I was reading a page out of my own book for a minute. Thank you!
What a lovely tribute to your Dad. Your cake looks absolutely sublime.
Michelle, this cake looks amazing! And what a great tribute to your dad too. I bet he would have loved this cake – who wouldn’t?!
oh my, this loooks sooooooooo good!thanks for sharing the recipe
What a great tribute to your dad, (I lost my dad when I was 20) but I’m sure he would have loved this gorgeous looking cake! It looks and sounds delicious.
What a beautiful cake! And it sounds like it tastes even better than it looks.