Chocolate Peanut M&M Cake

This vibrant, decadent Chocolate Peanut M&M Cake is loaded with flavor. It has layers of soft chocolate cake, smooth peanut butter frosting, dark chocolate drip, and crunchy peanut M&Ms. Serve it on birthdays and other special occasions.

This colorful chocolate peanut M&M cake is chocolatey, nutty and delicious. The layers of chocolate cake are simple to make, and the peanut butter frosting is smooth, nutty, and tasty. For this recipe, I added yellow and blue food coloring to the frosting to match the colors of the M&M packaging and topped it with a dark chocolate drip and more M&Ms. This is a peanut butter lover's dream!

Try this Chocolate Kitkat Cake, Kinder Bueno Cake, and Chocolate Twix Cake for more candy-themed cakes.

Why This Recipe Works

• This peanut M&M chocolate cake is a wonderful, luxurious dessert for birthdays and celebrations.
• It is bright and colorful, making it a fun dessert centerpiece.
• You can easily double or triple this recipe to feed more people. As an alternative, you can also make M&M cupcakes.
• Get creative and decorate this cake however you like.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

• Unsalted Butter: For the best consistency, use high-quality unsalted butter that is at room temperature before mixing.
• Caster Sugar: Sift the sugar to remove any lumps and impurities.
• Eggs: Use room-temperature eggs to ensure smooth mixing.
• Self-Raising Flour: Sift the flour to eliminate lumps.
• Unprocessed Cocoa Powder: Opt for high-quality cocoa powder for optimal flavor and sift to remove lumps.
• Baking Powder: Check that the baking powder is not expired to guarantee the cake rises appropriately.
• Milk: Use full-fat milk at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Frosting

• Unsalted butter: To achieve the perfect buttercream texture, the butter should be at room temperature before mixing.
• Peanut butter: Select good-quality smooth peanut butter for the best nutty flavor.
• Icing sugar: Sift the icing sugar to remove lumps and achieve a smooth frosting consistency.

Tips and Substitutions

• Weighing scale: Use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients, which is much more accurate than using cup measurements.
• Room-Temperature Ingredients: Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature before preparing the cake batter. Cold milk, eggs, or butter can adversely affect the cake’s rise.
• Frosting: As an alternative, you can frost the cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Vanilla Buttercream.
• Decorating: Feel free to decorate this cake however you like. For example, you can add peanut M&Ms around the entire cake or make it an M&M surprise cake by removing a portion from the center of the cake and filling it with M&Ms before frosting. It's entirely up to you.
• Food coloring: Use oil based food coloring for a vibrant frosting.

How to Make Chocolate Peanut M&M Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Grease and line two or four 7" cake tins with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix self-raising flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, add the butter and beat it for about 1 minute.
4. Add the sugar to the butter and beat the mixture using a stand or hand mixer for 5 minutes. The mixture should turn white or pale yellow.

5. Add one egg to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until fully incorporated. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
6. Fold or whisk half of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then add half of the milk, mixing to loosen the batter's consistency.
7. Incorporate the remaining flour mixture until the batter achieves a silky texture with some lumps. Be cautious not to overmix, resulting in a tough, chewy cake.
8. Pour equal portions of the batter into each prepared tin.

9. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. After 20 minutes (but not before), test the cakes by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean, the cakes are done.
10. Gently place the cakes upside down on a cooling rack. Let them cool completely for at least 2 hours.

Peanut butter buttercream: As the cake cools, prepare the frosting. Add unsalted butter and smooth peanut butter to the bowl and whisk for two minutes or until combined. Next, add half of the icing sugar and whisk until just incorporated. Then, add the remaining icing sugar, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and whisk well for 3-5 minutes. Remove 1.5 cups of the buttercream and put it in a bowl, along with a few drops of blue food coloring, and mix with a spoon. Finally, add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the remaining buttercream and mix until fully incorporated.

11. Once the cake has cooled, place one layer of cake on a cake board or plate.

12. Then, add spread a layer of peanut butter frosting on the cake.

13. Place another layer of cake on top of the first layer.
14. Then, frost the entire cake with peanut butter buttercream.
15. Smooth the cake and the edges.

Chocolate drip: Add chopped dark chocolate to a medium-sized bowl with 1-3 teaspoons of oil. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat this step until the chocolate is liquid. Continue stirring as it cools to prevent hardening.

16. Then, pour chocolate drip on top of the cake, creating a drip effect on the edges. Let the cake set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

19. Serve this tasty chocolate peanut M&M cake for dessert. You may also enjoy this Nutella Milkshake.

Recipe FAQs

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