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side view of chocolate candy cake with a ribbon around it on a cake stand

Chocolate Candy Cake


  • Author: Melissa Griffiths - Bless this Mess
  • Total Time: 3 hours
  • Yield: 16 servings 1x

Description

This Chocolate KitKat Candy Cake is sure to impress at your next party, it's such much fun to eat, will wow your guests, and it's easier than you think to make because the candy does all of the decorating!


Ingredients

Scale

For the Cake:

  • 2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cup ice water

For the Frosting:

  • 1 /2 cup butter, at room temperature 
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2-6 tablespoons milk

For the Candy:

  • Large ribbon long enough to go around the cake and tie
  • 35-40 Chocolate KitKats
  • Pocky Sticks
  • 2 whole chocolate bars
  • Chocolate Truffles that are round
  • Assorted chocolates (white, milk, dark chocolate) that are interesting shapes or textures

Instructions

  1. Prepare two 9-inch round cake pans by lining the bottom with a piece of parchment paper and greasing the sides well with shortening or softened butter.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. In a large bowl cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together until smooth.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl add the cocoa powder, salt, flour, and baking soda. Use a whisk to fully combine.
  5. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat well to combine. 
  6. Add half of the water to the butter mixture and beat well to combine.
  7. Add the last half of the dry ingredients to the batter and beat well to combine.
  8. Add the last half of the water to the dry ingredients and beat well to combine.
  9. Divide the prepared batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Smooth the top of the batter.
  10. Bake at for 27-30 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.
  11. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before inverting it onto a cooling wrack and removing the parchment paper. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the frosting and chocolate candy.
  12. To make the frosting add the butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and salt to a large bowl and beat to combine. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting is very smooth.
  13. Beat an additional 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
  14. Assemble the cake by placing one layer of cake on your cake stand. Add 1/3 cup of frosting to the top and spread it around. Place the second layer of cake on top of the first. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides and tops of both stacked layers of cake.
  15. To decorate the cake, while the chocolate frosting is still fresh (decorate right after you frost it so that the frosting doesn't have time to form a crust, this will help your candy stick better) break all of the Kit Kats apart and start lining the edge of the cake.
  16. Once you have gone around, use a big ribbon to hold the Kit Kats onto the cake.  
  17. After I added the ribbon I went back over the Kit Kats and wiggled them closed together, adding a few more sticks where needed.  
  18. Fill in the top of the cake with your favorite candy chocolate candy as pictured in the blog post. 
  19. I like to have a few large pieces of chocolate bar and pocky sticks standing up on the cake for some height and then I filled the rest in with pieces of chocolate, chocolate candies, and truffles.
  20. Enjoy!

Notes

  • You don't have to make a cake from scratch to make a candy cake. Feel free to use a boxed cake mix and canned frosting if that makes your life easier.
  • I used rice crispy treats instead of cake for this colorful candy cake and you could do the same thing for this chocolate candy cake if you'd like it to be a no bake dessert. The candy is what really makes this special.
  • We used all kinds of chocolates, truffles, and candy bars, use what you like and look for things that have interesting shapes and textures. We also used some chocolate chips and Hershey's Kisses to help fill in some space.
  • Prep Time: 45 min
  • Cook Time: 30 min
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: bake
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: candy cake, how to make a candy cake, kitkat cake, chocolate candy cake