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!
I tried this cake out last week for my Mum’s retirement. I’m no proper baker.. Just bake cupcakes with friends from time to time… This was a great success!! So tasty! Thanks so much for the recipe, everyone loved it :)
This is my families favorite cake. Ive made it twice now. Thanks for sharing it.
Hi Michelle,
I started to work on this cake last night. I typically bake my cakes a few days in advance and freeze them. This frees up time for me and also makes cakes moister I’ve found. While making this batter I noticed it was very very thin – like water. I’ve made several chocolate cakes with boiling water/coffee but this was the first time I was ever concerned. There seemed to be too much oil in the recipe and combined with the coffee and buttermilk this batter was an equal ratio of wet ingredients to dry. Nonetheless I baked them as instructed. They did take a few more minutes to set up in the oven. I let them cool for 20 and then had a very difficult time trying to remove them from the pans. The bottoms were stuck to the pans (I greased them thoroughly) and the cake itself was too moist/tender and greasy. I was able to get most of them freed from the pans without too much damage but some chunks did end up stuck to the bottom of the pan. I’m not sure if anyone else has had this trouble with the cake recipe before. It was very peculiar to me as I bake a lot and have never had such an experience with a chocolate cake. I taste tested a chunk that was left behind and it did taste nice so I’m going to fill and decorate them in a few days. I’m just hoping the cakes won’t be too difficult to work and fall apart on me. I love the concept of the cake and its inspiration for you…and I don’t want to discourage others from making it by any means. Just thought I would submit my experience in case others might have had similar issues. One of those cases of “is this me or the recipe?” and I just wanted to some input. Thanks :)
Hi Kate, I would recommend greasing AND flouring the pans for an easy release. I found out quite some time ago that simply greasing a cake pan doesn’t always result in a clean release. Hope you enjoy the cake!
A long overdue update… I’ve made this chocolate cake recipe a few times since my first post in July. I found that reducing the oil to 1/2 cup gives me the best results. The cake is still very moist but not greasy as I originally found. It also gave me better structure which helped tremendously with de-panning. To each their own : ) Glad I was able to find what worked for me.
Just made this for my mom’s birthday and it was a hit! The only problem I had was with icing the cake. For whatever reason I couldn’t avoid getting crumbs all mixed up in it…Do you have any cake-icing tutorials for future reference? If not, you should do one for those of us who are rather aesthetically challenged! :)
I don’t, but I will add that to my list of must-do posts!
Hi A – Just wanted to add my input re: frosting a cake. I dust off my cakes with a pastry brush before I begin. After I fill the cake I pop it into the frig to chill for at least 30 minutes. A firm cake is so much easier to frost and you don’t have to worry about filling oozing out. The big key to frosting is to do it in two stages. The initial “crumb coat” is a thin veil that will help seal in the crumbs. Again, chilling the cake after the crumb coat (about 15 min) helps firm everything up. Then apply a second coat liberally while making sure your spatula (or frosting tool) doesn’t touch the cake. Always keep plenty of frosting between the tool and the cake. This creates a barrier of protection. If you do pick up crumbs it helps to keep a separate cup on the side to discard the “crummy frosting”. Frosting is all about adding more than necessary and removing excess later. When you go back and keep adding more frosting to that final layer makes it easy to mess things up. This technique does require extra time and frosting but it does pay off tremendously. Hope this helps!
I am sooo making this cake! The only thing problem is I need to decorate it for a Captain America themed birthday party. My questions is….if I covered the entire cake in your ganache recipe do you think I could then cover it with a layer of chocolate modeling clay or fondant? I wasn’t sure how the cake/buttercream/ganache exterior would hold up against an additional layer. The cake sounds sturdy but I know not all cakes can be covered. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Hi Kate, I would probably cover the cake in fondant without the ganache. As you know, taller layer cakes aren’t as sturdy as smaller ones, so I would make sure you refrigerate the cake to be sure everything is set before covering in fondant.
Thanks Michelle! The refrigerator is definitely getting cleared out for this one :)
First off, I just wanted to say that your website is beautifully done. And your food shots are gorgeous. I was looking for a cake inspired by the snickers bar and this fit the bill. I followed the recipe exactly as written. Good ingredients, no short cuts, (almost) each component was excellent. The cake was moist and deeply chocolatey. Nougat filling was perfect. Caramel sauce was decadent. The butter cream…well…it didn’t stand up well to its peers. I am going to search for a swiss buttercream flavored with the salted caramel. Now, a note to anyone making this cake; I did fold the nuts into the nougat and it made it difficult to spread, especially after waiting for it cool down when it had thickened up; suggestion is to spread the nougat onto the cake layers before it cools completely and still spreadable, then sprinkle the peanuts onto the nougat, then apply caramel.
Definitely one of the best cake recipes I have found in my 40 years of baking. So thank you so much for sharing with us!
First, beautiful photos of the cake. Recipe is excellent. I made it yesterday and its time consuming, but then anything fast and easy usually isn’t that good. The only change I would make is the amount of chopped peanuts in the amazing nougat. I had an issue trying to spread the nougat with the peanuts in it. When I make this again, I will sprinkle the peanuts over the nougat. Thanks for an amazing recipe.
This cake looks amazing, and planning on making it for my birthday since I am a huge snickers fan. I am having trouble finding Dutch process cocoa powder. Am I able to substitute it with natural cocoa powder? Thanks!
Hi Stacey, You can order Dutch process cocoa powder on Amazon.com or from King Arthur Flour. You could substitute regular cocoa powder in a pinch, but the texture might differ a bit.
This is one of the best cakes we have ever had. My family loves it!
Thank you for posting this! I just found it while searching for a recipe for my dad for Father’s Day – he actually requested a Snickers cake for his birthday next month, but since it’s the big 5-0 I had something more…decorative in mind. The fact that you created this in honor of your dad makes it even more special. I’m sure my dad will love it as it looks awesome! I am going to add chopped Snickers on the top, though, since my dad told me he doesn’t believe in cakes that are “candy bar flavored but don’t have the actual candy bar in them.” :)
Thanks for the Recipe! Just made it today for my boyfriends birthday and Wow! It’s sweet! Very good with some milk to help mellow it out a little. This was my first time making caramel sauce (used your recipe for that as well) and I think it turned out well. I love how detailed you get. It makes it super easy to follow along, even when you are in a bit of a foggy mind set. Thanks again!
Do you think it’s possible to cut down the amount of sugar in the nougat? I made your homemade snickers bars and thought they were awesome, but almost too sweet. I’m afraid the cake will be the same.
Hi Kate, You can, I just can’t guarantee how it might affect the texture or final outcome, as I haven’t tried doing that. Enjoy the cake!
This is an amazing recipe Thank you for sharing it. My cake looked beautiful and the ganache only added to the visual appea
This cake is amazing. I made it for my husbands birthday last night. It definitely was a labor of love. But it was SOOOOO worth it. It turned out as gorgeous as your picture and tasted exactly like snickers. Thanks so much!!!
hi, I so want to make this for my boyfriend’s birthday. I have only 2 9″ pans, can I make the batter and bake the 1st batch in the 2 pans and then bake the 3rd one later after? will the batter keep for an hour or so?
You can do that, although the 3rd may not rise as high. Leavening agents like baking soda and baking powder work best when first mixed, so if batter is left to sit for a period of time, they are diffused, so to speak.
I made this snickers cake for my birthday, it is a lot of work but so worth it. I found the recipe very easy to follow, very clear instructions. I made the nougat and caramel the day before putting the cake together. I also found that I had too much nougat and extra caramel, but that was a good thing. I thought that the nougat tasted a little like the center of Payday candy bar so made small balls of the nougat rolled in the caramel and chopped peanuts. Everything about this cake is delicious….loved the salted Caramel frosting..will be using this frosting on cupcakes and other cakes. I didn’t have milk chocolate for the ganache so used bittersweet it was delicious!
Thanks ,
Charlotte
I just made this today for a coworker’s last day on Tuesday. I am glad that I made it today as it was more time consuming than I thought it would be. I am also glad that I made 2 cupcakes with the batter because there is no way I can wait until Tuesday to taste this!!!! There were a couple of issues that I had, it was my first time making caramel sauce and my first batch burned horribly!! And I had to add at least an extra cup of confectioners sugar when making the icing. No big deal on either issue, I just thought I would mention it for others attempting to make this. Thanks for posting this, I cannot wait to taste it!!!
do you think it would be ok to assemble and freezethis cake for 1 week?
Hi Belinda, I would not freeze this cake assembled. I would freeze the individual cake layers, then assemble closer to when you want to serve the cake. Freezing the filling and frosting could alter their texture and flavor when thawed.
I made this for a party and it was a HUGE hit. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hello! First and foremost, let me say that every element of this cake is absolutely delicious and well worth the effort. However, I did encounter some problems with this recipe and I am by no means a novice baker. It seemed to me that there was far too much nougat filling and also it was unclear how long it should cool for. I allowed the nougat to get to room temperature and yet after putting on the second cake layer it began to ooze out immediately. Let’s just say it didn’t look any prettier after the third layer, and because of the weight one side of the cake started to fall apart. Normally this wouldn’t bother me so much, but as I am donating the cake to a bake sale tomorrow this was highly disappointing as I wanted it to look as nice as your lovely photo. Maybe the nougat need to be refrigerated before using? Or perhaps it was the sheer amount of nougat called for? I know your instructions said you could refrigerate it, but I’m thinking that this is a must. Again, I’m not trying to complain, this cake is divine, I just wish it had turned out as well as the one shown.
I too continue to make a chocolate cake every year to celebrate my Dad’s birthday, this year I will certainly make this one! It will be 25 years this August and it would have been his 99th birthday. Whenever I asked my Dad how old he was, 99 was always his reply. This year will be special indeed. Thanks for the great recipe!
I love snickers, so I’ll have to try this!
I’m just putting the finishing touches on this for my dad’s 60th birthday today!!! he LOVES snickers and knew I had to make it as soon as I saw it (when my sister and i were little, he even named our dog snickers)!! My husband and I already agree that this is one the absolute best cakes to come out of the kitchen–so THANK YOU! <3
I am making a modified version of this cake this weekend, mainly because I’m sure your amazing pictures don’t do it justice. :) My question is, did you find the cream cheese to come out in the frosting or is it masked by the caramel? I am debating between that frosting and an Italian or Swiss caramel buttercream. Thanks. You have one of my dream jobs. :)
Hi Rebecca, You can’t really taste the cream cheese in the frosting; you definitely taste more of the caramel flavor.
Thanks. :). That helped. I’ll let you know my decision.
I used my favorite chocolate cake recipient, but otherwise followed the recipe. It was great! My 5 year old couldn’t eat it fast enough! Thanks for the idea. :)
Hi,
I love your website. My birthday will be on May 9th. I love to bake and will be baking this cake for it. I will be thinking about the story you tell of your Dad. FYI- I am a 7 year survivor of Leukemia and I am grateful to be here. I’m sorry about your loss.
Hi Toni, Thank you for the comment; I’m so happy to hear that you are a leukemia survivor! All the best to you.
I’ve made a few things from your wonderful site, and they were all tasty. This cake was certainly the tops, so far. I, too, made it for my dad’s birthday, and he LOVED it. My mom took the rest to work and, as preschool teachers go, they all think I’m a baking wizard, partly due to this great recipe. Thank you for sharing great, “from scratch” recipes that continue to hone my skills in the kitchen, and keep up the great website! It’s a real treat! And your puppy Einstein is just adorable! :)
Hi there, what a touching story.
The Cake looks amazing and would love to try it out this weekend, only marshmallow fluff is impossible to find where I come from. Can it be substituted with normal marshmallows?
Thanks for your help !
Hi Tina, You can’t use just marshmallows, but you could use homemade marshmallow creme: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/02/homemade-marshmallow-creme/
Thanks for your super fast reply! love your blog! x
Made this for my birthday Last night. I have never seen a cake dissapear so much. Doubled the recipe to cater for 35 people, and there’s barely a sliver left. Excellent recipe, Nougat tasted eeexxactly like snickers. No one would believe that there were no snicker bars used in the recipe. Well done, for a first class cake. Putting this down in my recipe book, where only the best cakes are accepted :P
Thank you for providing me with an excellent birthday cake!
*disappear so fast not so much..
Hi Tina, Thanks for sharing your feedback, I’m thrilled to hear the cake was such a hit! A Happy Birthday to you as well! :)
I made this recipe and the center slumped in on one side is this normal for this recipe? Baking soda and baking powder were brand new out of package and fresh….
Thanks!
I just could not resist and made this today. OMG, it was SO good. The cake itself would be amazing anytime as a good dark, chocolate cake, but the nougat and everything else just ROCKS.
This cake looks de-licious!! I am going to have to try this one, thank you for sharing your recipes. I was very moved by your story as just like you my dad would have been sixty this year (July) and I was only a bit younger than you at 16 so I understand your sentiments. Wishing you all the best with your ventures Xx
This cake looks delicious!!! I’ve loved every recipe I’ve tried on your blog. I would love to make this for a friends upcoming birthday. My friend has an egg allergy and I was wondering what I could use for an egg substitute. Thanks!!!
Hi Kristin, Yikes, I have never made a cake using any type of egg substitute. If there is an egg substitute that you or your friend know of, you could try that, but I can’t guarantee how it will turn out.
I’ve used the Flax seed and water method for egg replacer and it seems to have worked in baked goods. Why not try it and report back? :)