This irresistible Snickers Cake is made of layers of softest chocolate cake, salted caramel buttercream, peanut butter buttercream, salted caramel and generous amount of crushed peanuts!!!
Step by step photos and video demo are included for your success!
Yes, this cake is loaded with goodies and beyond indulgent. But it’s worth every single calorie!!! How can it not be, right?!
I made this cake early 2020 BC (before covid) and I’m SO excited to finally share the recipe with you today!
If baking has been your happy place in these strange times, I hope you’ll add this cake on to your list. It’s SO worth it!
Table of Contents
Snickers Cake Components:
The beauty of this cake is that you can prepare all the components in advance.
- The best simple CHOCOLATE CAKE can be made days or months in advance. In fact, it’s highly recommended to make the cake at least a day in advance. TIP: Chilled cake is sturdier and easier to slice horizontally. It freezes well.
- PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM and SALTED CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM can also be made ahead and freezes well.
- SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE is easy to make from scratch and can be made in advance as well!
How to make snickers cake:
Once all the components are prepared, fun times begins!!!
Let’s assemble the most EPIC snickers cake together.
First, prepare all the components:
- Slice the chocolate cake into 4 layers.
- Transfer the frostings into 2 large piping bags with round tips. TIP: It’s much easier to frost the cake by piping the frosting!
- Roughly chop roasted peanuts.
TIP: Place a dollop of frosting in the middle of the cake board, so the cake doesn’t slide. And place 4 strips of parchment paper around the edges of the board to keep it nice and clean.
Now, you can alternate peanut butter buttercream and salted caramel buttercream between the layers. OR use peanut butter buttercream in between the layers, and use salted caramel buttercream on the outside of the cake.
To assemble the cake:
- Place one layer of chocolate cake on the prepared cake board.
- Pipe frosting all over the cake layer and smooth it with a small offset spatula.
- Now, pipe a boarder with frosting right around the edges.
- Smear 1/4 cup of caramel sauce in the middle and sprinkle crushed peanuts.
- Place another layer of chocolate cake on top and repeat until all the layers are done.
- Then frost the cake all around with a little bit of frosting to just cover the cake. It doesn’t have to be perfect. This’s called crumb coat a cake. Refrigerate the cake for about 30 minutes, or until the frosting hardens a bit.
HOW TO DECORATE SNICKERS CAKE:
It took me about 1.5 hours to assemble the cake, which includes 30 minutes of chilling time. So, plan accordingly.
- Final layer of frosting: Now that our cake is crumb coated nicely, we will frost it again with another layer of frosting. This time, we’ll smooth it out nicely. This bench scraper does a great job for smoothing the frosting.
- Transfer the remaining caramel sauce into a condiment bottle.
- Make a chocolate ganache and place it in another condiment bottle.
- Slice couple snickers bars. TIP: If you run your knife under hot water, it’ll be much easier to make a clean slices. Don’t forget to dry the knife before using.
- Remove the parchment paper strips from the bottom of the cake. See, how clean the cake board still is?!
- Drip the caramel sauce and chocolate ganache around the edges of the cake. Pipe decorative designs with remaining buttercream around the edges. And then pour some chocolate ganache in the middle. Arrange snickers slices on top and voila!
I made a quick video of how I assembled and decorated the cake. So it might be much more helpful to watch it!
How to make-ahead chocolate cake:
If you use your time efficiently, you can make this cake from start to finish in roughly 5 hours.
BUT you can prepare all the components in advance, one component at a time. Then this project won’t be as daunting or massive, and you’ll enjoy the process much better.
Make-Ahead Tip:
- Cake can be made and frozen up to a month in advance, or refrigerated for up to a week. Thaw frozen cake in the fridge overnight.
- Salted caramel sauce can also be made a month in advance. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Both buttercream frostings can be prepared up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate in an airtight container and re-whip before using.
- It’s best to make chocolate ganache the day of assembly.
You can assemble the cake 1 day in advance and store it in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
HOW TO STORE SNICKERS CAKE:
- You can assemble the cake 1 day prior to serving.
- Leftover cake can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 3 days, or can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Please let me know if you make this cake. I love reading your feedback and seeing your version. If you share a photo on Instagram, please tag me @shineshka.
Snickers Cake
This irresistible Snickers Cake is made of layers of softest chocolate cake, caramel buttercream, peanut butter buttercream, salted caramel and generous amount of crushed peanuts!!!
Step by step photos and video are included for your success!
Ingredients
For chocolate cake:
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ (300 g) sugar
- ½ cup (60 g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder Note 1
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (280 ml) whole milk + 2 tablespoons, at room temperature Note 2
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar Note 4
For salted caramel sauce:
- 1 cup (200 g) pure cane sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream warmed up
- 4 tablespoons (55 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt I like Maldon sea salt flakes
For peanut butter buttercream:
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (130 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
For salted caramel buttercream:
- 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) salted caramel sauce (from the batch made above)
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
For the chocolate ganache:
- ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream
- 2 oz (55 g) bittersweet chocolate chopped
For assembly:
- 1 cup (140 g) dry roasted peanuts roughly chopped
- 2-3 snickers bars sliced
Instructions
- To make the cake, line two 7-inch cake pans with a parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a mixing bowl with paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, or until everything is well combined.
- Add milk, eggs, oil and butter. Mix the batter just until smooth, about 15 seconds.
- Stir in vinegar and mix for another 10 seconds.
- Divide the batter into the prepared baking pans. Bake for 35 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool completely in the pans set on wire rack. Then carefully run a knife around the edges and invert. Wrap each cake with a plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, preferably overnight. Chilled cakes are sturdier and slice much easier, but you can definitely frost the cake as soon as they cooled completely.
- To make salted caramel sauce, follow this recipe. (Note 3)
- To make peanut butter buttercream, in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, combine butter and peanut butter and beat on medium high heat for about 2 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula half way through.
- Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt and continue beating until the frosting is nice and smooth and fluffy, about 2 more minutes.
- To make salted caramel buttercream, in a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, combine butter and salted caramel sauce and beat on medium high heat for about 2 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula half way through.
- Add powdered sugar and continue beating until the frosting is nice and smooth and fluffy, about 2 more minutes.
- To make the ganache, heat heavy cream in microwave for 45 seconds, or until hot. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream over chocolate. Let it sit for 2 minutes, and then stir until smooth. If the chocolate isn’t melted completely, microwave the mixture for 15 seconds and stir, continue until ganache is smooth and runny. (TIP: Make the ganache right before assembling the cake.)
- To assemble the cake, cut the cake layers horizontally into equal layers. Place the buttercream frostings into 2 separate piping bags fitted with plain round tips, or simply cut the ends off.
- Prepare peanuts, cake board, 4 strips of parchment paper, offset spatula and ¼ cup measuring cup or a large cookie scoop.
- Place a cake board on a turntable and smear a small amount of frosting in the middle. Place 4 parchment paper strips around the edges of the cake boards, as pictured.
- Put the first layer of the cake, pipe peanut butter buttercream frosting all over the cake and then spread it evenly with a small offset spatula.
- Pipe salted caramel buttercream frosting around the edges to create a boarder and put ¼ cup of salted caramel in the middle.
- Sprinkle some peanuts over the caramel sauce and place the next layer of cake. Repeat with the remaining layers.
- To crumb coat the cake, frost the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting and smooth it out as best as you can. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until the frosting is set.
- Meanwhile, transfer remaining salted caramel sauce and ganache into squirt bottles. If they are too thick, microwave each sauce for 10-15 seconds to thin them out. Make sure they’re not too hot before decorating the cake.
- Transfer a small amount of frosting into a piping bag, fitted with star tip.
- To decorate the cake, apply another layer of frosting and smooth it out nicely with an offset spatula, or a bench scraper.
- drip salted caramel sauce around the edges, followed by chocolate ganache.
- Pipe the frosting with decorated tip around the edges. Pour some chocolate ganache in the middle and sprinkle some peanuts. Top with snickers bar slices.
Tips & Notes
Note 1: Espresso powder doesn’t add coffee flavor and you won’t even taste it. It only enhances chocolate flavor. But if you don’t have it, you can omit it.
Note 2: I highly recommend using a whole milk for richer flavor, but 2% milk would work too.
Note 3: Make sure to cool the salted caramel sauce completely before using it for buttercream frosting and assembling the cake.
Note 4: You can also use apple cider vinegar.
Make-Ahead Tip: You can make all the components of the cake separately well in advance.
– Cake can be made and frozen up to a month in advance, or refrigerated for up to a week. – Thaw frozen cake in the fridge overnight.
– Salted caramel sauce can also be made a month in advance. Refrigerate until ready to use.
– Both buttercream frostings can be prepared up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate in an airtight container and re-whip before using.
– It’s best to make chocolate ganache the day of assembly.
– You can assemble the cake 1 day in advance and store it in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
– Cake can be made and frozen up to a month in advance, or refrigerated for up to a week. – Thaw frozen cake in the fridge overnight.
– Salted caramel sauce can also be made a month in advance. Refrigerate until ready to use.
– Both buttercream frostings can be prepared up to 3 days in advance. Refrigerate in an airtight container and re-whip before using.
– It’s best to make chocolate ganache the day of assembly.
– You can assemble the cake 1 day in advance and store it in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 609kcal
Carbohydrates: 57g
Protein: 9g
Fat: 41g
Sugar: 34g
Sodium: 432mg
Did you make this?Share a comment or a review below!
In a couple of places the recipe mentions using the frosting, but doesn’t say which frosting it is referring to – am I missing something?
Hi, Jenna. Thank you for reaching out. I’ve mentioned it in the body of the blog post, but I should include this in the recipe card as well. So thank you for the reminder! There’s no right or wrong way here. You can alternate peanut butter buttercream and salted caramel buttercream between the layers. OR use peanut butter buttercream in between the layers, and use salted caramel buttercream on the outside of the cake. It’s totally up to you.
Hello! I made this cake for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful! Any idea of cost calculation for ingredients? Thank you!
I made this fabulous cake for my husbands birthday. It was excellent, EXCEPT, there was not nearly enough frosting, not even close. I did everything exactly as directed, watched the video and copied exactly what she was doing, but if I make this cake again, I will double the two buttercream frostings. The chocolate ganache and caramel sauce were plentiful. Very easy to follow instructions and great recipe, just needs way more frosting!
Hi, Cindy! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback!! I’m so happy you loved the cake despite the buttercream shortage. We’ll re-test the recipe and update the recipe accordingly.
i want to make the cake but cant do dairy cause some have alergy, what can i replace the milk in the cake to?
soy\oatmeal\almond can work?
Hi, Shani. Unfortunately, I haven’t tested the recipe with other types of milk, but I’m pretty sure any non-dairy milk will work just fine.
I made this for a birthday and it was so good and pretty! Everyone loved it and hinted that I should make it again. The recipe did not say anything about burning the sugar in the caramel so it took me awhile to figure out why my caramel was bitter. Eventually I figured it out and the third try the caramel turned out delicious.
Thank you so much for your feedback, Alana!! So happy you and your family enjoyed it!!
This was delicious but it did not make nearly enough frosting. I had to double the peanut butter frosting and could have used more of the caramel one
Thank you for your feedback, Anna!!!
I made this cake for our Father’s Day gathering and everyone raved about it. I had to sub out the cake for a gluten free cake for my family, so I can’t speak to the actual cake recipe, but everything else was delicious! The instructions were very detailed and well thought out. Thanks for the info about the length of time to prepare this cake. Much appreciated! This has definitely become a family favorite and I’m sure it will be requested for future family gatherings.
Hi, Amy! I’m so happy you made my recipe and that you and your family loved it! Thank you so much for your feedback!
This cake is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! I’m not a pro in cake but everyone loved it thankfully.
To me it tasted like a mixture of Reese’s and snickers so definitely give it a try if you like peanut butter.
* note: I made it with *PEELED* salted peanuts so there was a hint of salt that balanced the sweetness but nothing crazy, also adding semisweet chocolate makes it much better and gives it a balanced taste.
Tysm for this recipe you’re incredible <3
Hi,
This cake looks absolutely amazing!
I am going to make it for my friend birthday this Friday.
But I just realized I have bought salted peanuts for garnishing.
Is that bad? You haven’t mentioned if the peanuts should be salted or unsalted.
Thank you so much!
I made this on a friday for Monday, will it still be ok?
Sure. If you want, you can also freeze it. Then transfer the frozen cake into the fridge on Sunday night to thaw in the fridge overnight. Hope you enjoy!
I really want to make this cake for my fair project this year!! I am wondering though, does the cake have to be refrigerated after assembly? My cake isn’t able to be refrigerated at my fair but in a cool building and it will be about 3 days there after being judged.
Hi, Heather! Thanks for reaching out. I don’t recommend keeping this cake for 3 days unrefrigerated.
I haven’t made the recipe yet but just had to comment on how well thought out these instructions are. I am an avid baker and appreciate the level of detail in these instructions. Thank you so much for taking the time!