Candy-Filled M&M Drip Cake ★★★★★ 690

Seriously. 

I've fallen down stairs. I've fallen going *up* stairs. I've actually tripped on 100% flat linoleum flooring. I've caught the edges of flip-flops and sandals on countless steps and almost eaten dirt *tons* of times. I drop things. I break things. I tip things over and spill them.....

Ingredients: 

1. 50g all purpose flour (roughly 2 ¼ c)
2. 450g caster sugar (roughly 2 ¼ c)
3. 100g cocoa powder (roughly 1 ¼ c)
4. 1 tsp baking soda
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1 c /250g /16 T unsalted butter, softened
7. 4 large eggs, at room temperature
8. 350ml buttermilk (about 1 ½ ; I used a 2c pyrex liquid measuring cup with mL marks on the back)
9. 2 t vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180C). Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured spray and/or line pans with parchment paper. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar. Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to mix for a couple minutes to help everything combine well (or sift the ingredients together). Add in the softened butter until it’s well incorporated into the dry ingredients and no lumps of butter are visible. 

Next, add buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla together and whisk until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a slow and steady stream until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.

Fill the three pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 550g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.

If you want to fill the center of your cake with M&Ms and chocolate chips, use a glass or medium-sized biscuit cutter to remove center from two of the three cake layers. (It works best to do this once your cake layers have cooled; they’re much more likely to crumble if you cut them when they’re warm.)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:

• 8 oz (one package) cream cheese, softened
• 16 Tablespoons (two sticks) butter, softened
• 5 ½ -6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder 
• 4-6 Tablespoons milk
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1/4 t. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar and cocoa powder alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.

Chocolate ganache drip: 

• 6 oz (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips 
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) heavy whipping cream 
• Meanwhile, make your ganache. Place chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Place whipping cream in a small saucepan and bring almost to a boil over medium/low heat. Pour over chocolate chips and let rest for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth and silky. (Or you can combine ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals on 50% power, stirring in between until smooth). 

Additional Supplies/Equipment:

• 1 8- or 10 -inch cardboard cake circle (I prefer Wilton’s center-punched circles)
• Large piping bag & tip – I use this set of reusable large bags & tips more than almost any of my others!
• Cake leveler, cake turntable, large offset spatula, and pastry cutter/bench scraper - not all 100% necessary but incredibly helpful! (Here’s a link to the cake turntable I use) 
• 1 large bag M&Ms candy (I bought the ‘shareable’ zip-top size bag)
• 1 small bag or box of M&Ms candy (about 1 1/2 cups - I bought a large bag and used about half of it) 
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1 long skewer or chopstick 

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