Love M&M’S? You’re gonna love this M&M’S cake! Incredible simple to make, loaded with candy and topped with a smooth ganache and more candies! It’s a M&M’s paradise cake!
According to both my daughter and my husband sprinkles and M&M’S should make the world go round. Every time I ask what cake should I make they both reply: a colorful one!
Since I’ve already made a sprinkle cake for her birthday, it was time to take care of my husband’s request. A cake loaded, LOADED with M&M’S!!!
This incredible simple white cake is packed with M&M’S minis milk chocolate baking bits both in the batter and the frosting. And if that wasn’t enough, I finished it with more M&M’S candy. Of course you can skip the M&M’S on top but why would you? Don’t you like how colorful the cake looks like? It puts a smile on everyone’s face. You should have seen how my husband’s eyes lit up when he noticed the cake in the fridge!
The white cake base it’s becoming my go-to base for different layer cakes!
Loaded with butter and vanilla flavor, it has a tender moist crumb. The M&M’S minis milk chocolate baking bites give the cake a touch of chocolate and a little crunch in every bite.
It’s so much better than the store-bought one! And bonus, it’s a snap to make!!
All you need are basic ingredients to make a cake – butter, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, milk, all-purpose flour, baking powder and of course M&M’S minis milk chocolate baking bits.
Have you seen the new M&M’S baking bits? They come in two varieties – M&M’S® Semi- Sweet Dark Chocolate Baking Bits and M&M’S® Minis Milk Chocolate Baking Bits.
Obviously, I prefer the mini ones. At least in this cake!
Cream the butter with sugar, beat in the eggs, vanilla and alternately add the milk with the flour. Make sure you don’t overbeat the batter or your cake will turn out tough and/or rubbery.
Although I wanted to make a round cake, I thought baking the cake into a jelly roll pan is way more fun! And it takes just about the same amount of time as making a 3 layer cake. Don’t feel intimidated!
Baking with M&M’S takes a little bit of practice. Not all cake batters support the weight of the candy. To prevent them from sinking, you have to make sure the cake batter is not too runny. It needs a thick batter to support them.
Do not worry. Just because the cake batter is thick, does not mean the cake is dry. It actually has a moist tender crumb and since it’s not a thick cake, it picks up more moisture from the frosting, making it absolutely irresistible!
While test tasting this cake recipe, I noticed also M&M’S bleed slightly when folded into the cake batter. To prevent having a tie-dye cake (although that sure sounds like lots of fun) gently fold the batter with a spatula for no more than 30 seconds.
The same goes for the frosting! Ahh, the frosting!!!
Did you notice that thick layer of frosting? It’s just as thick as the cake! I hate when I get a slice of cake and hardly has any frosting in between the layers. Might as well just give me a piece a plain cake than tease me with a drop of frosting, am I right?
For the frosting I used both butter and cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract plus a cupful of mini M&M’S.
For the extra fancy touch, I make some ganache, poured it over the cake and let my daughter go crazy with the M&M’S on top. I think she did quite an amazing job, don’t you think?
Ganache is a thick chocolate sauce, made from chocolate and heavy cream. I highly recommend chopping baking chocolate rather than using chocolate chips. Baking chocolate melts faster and I’ve noticed it makes a shinier ganache (maybe it’s just me)
When applying the ganache, spoon or pour it in the middle of the cake and let gravity do its work. Of course, you can shape its course with a small spatula of the back of a spoon.
Do you love M&M’S? Which ones are your favorite?
If you’re looking for more ideas using M&M’S candy in your recipes, follow along the newly launched pinterest page https://www.pinterest.com/mmschocolate/ for daily inspiration!
Love M&M'S? You're gonna love this M&M'S cake! Incredible simple to make, loaded with candy and topped with a smooth ganache and more candies! It's a M&M's paradise cake!
40 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup milk, room temperature
- ¾ cup M&M’S minis milk chocolate baking bits
- 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- few drops of heavy cream or whole milk
- 1 cup M&M’S minis milk chocolate baking bits
- 4 ounces baking chocolate (I prefer 60%), chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 to 1 ½ cups M&M’S to decorate
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350F. Line a 15X10” jelly roll pan with aluminium foil or parchment paper. Set aside until needed.
- In the mixing bowl of your mixer, add the butter and the sugar. With the paddle attachment on, beat on low-speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the vanilla, and the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and the baking powder. (This will ensure the leavener is evenly distributed in the cake batter).
- Add the flour mix alternately with the milk to the cake batter. Start with the flour, about half of it, half of the milk, one third of the flour, the remaining milk and the rest of the flour. Beat until there’s no more dry flour. Do not over mix!!
- Gently, with a spatula, fold in the M&M’S baking bits. Just give them a few folds, since they tend to bleed into the cake batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely in the pan before inverting on a wire rack.
- In a mixing bowl, add the butter and the cream cheese. With the paddle attachment on, beat on low-speed until combined and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Gently, on the lowest speed, add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, allowing the sugar to be incorporated into the frosting before adding more.
- Once all the sugar is added, increase the mixer’s speed to medium and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes. If you think your frosting is too stiff, add a few drops of heavy cream.
- With a spatula, fold in the M&M’S minis.
- Cut the cake into 3 equal parts.
- Place the first layer on a serving platter.
- Place half of the frosting on top of the first layer and spread it evenly.
- Top with the second cake layer.
- Spread the remaining frosting on top of the cake and finish with the third cake layer.
- Place the cake in the fridge for about 1 hour, to set.
- In the meantime, make the ganache.
- In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until boiling point. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate, leave it for 30 seconds and stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
- Let the ganache sit at room temperature until thickened slightly.
- Pour over the cold cake and either let the ganache cover the cake all by itself, or spread it with a small spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Decorate with M&M’S
- Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.
- Leave the cake stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving it.
Disclosure – this post is sponsored by M&M’S. Although I’ve been compensated to develop the recipe and write this post, the opinions expressed here are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands I love.
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