I created this Chocolate Caramel Milky Way Cake recipe as part of a sponsored post for Mars and Collective Bias®.
I have a confession to make. I like mini chocolate candy bars. Even with all of the delicious desserts coming out of my kitchen, I still have to keep some mini-candy bars stashed away for emergencies. You know, those emergencies that tend to happen everyday after lunch. My wife often asks why I keep candy around since there’s almost always a cake or cookies or pie on the kitchen counter (and sometimes all three). I tried to explain how a mini-candy bar is just different than a slice of cake or pie, but she didn’t buy it. So then I took to stashing candy in hiding places so she didn’t see it. But there was a fatal flaw in my plan. Wrappers. Yup, she found the wrappers in the trash. I felt a bit like Snidely Whiplash, the villain from Rocky & Bullwinkle, who always muttered “Curses! Foiled again!”
But while I was doing my weekly grocery run at Walmart this week, I came across a most amazing invention. A bag of unwrapped Milky Way Simply Caramel Bites. This is a game changer. No more wrappers! After snacking on a few of these bites on the way home, I decided I needed to make a cake featuring these tasty little bites. A chocolate cake…with caramel frosting…coated in a thin layer of chocolate ganache…and topped with some of these Milky Way Bites of course! This delicious cake was fun to make, and even more fun to eat. We had some friends visiting for the weekend, and let’s just say that cake didn’t last very long.
I do have a couple of quick tips for making this tasty Chocolate Caramel Milky Way Cake. First, make sure the cake layers have cooled completely before adding the caramel frosting in the middle. Second, I used a #32 tip to make the small frosting stars on the top of the cake, but I bet any small star tip would work just fine. When I piped the stars on top, I did have to add a bit of cream and powdered sugar to the caramel frosting to loosen it up a bit. And finally, make sure to save some of the Milky Way Bites for the top of the cake. (That was the hardest part for me!)
Ingredients
- 12 Tbsp (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 12 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp corn syrup
- 1 ½ Tbsp water
- 8 Milky Way Simply Caramel Bites
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 9” round cake pans; set aside.
- In the bowl of a countertop mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla until light and fluffy (~3-4 minutes on medium-high speed).
- Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift together the flour and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Separately, whisk together the milk and sour cream in another bowl.
- Add flour mixture to the bowl in 3 additions and milk mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix on low speed after each addition until fully combined. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl!)
- Fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two greased cake pans. Bake at 350°F for 32-34 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Allow cakes to cool before frosting.
- Using a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, cream and vanilla. Bring mixture to a boil for 1 minute. Remove pan from the heat and allow it to cool until warm.
- Transfer caramel mixture to the bowl of a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach the desired consistency. (You may find that you need a bit more cream or powdered sugar depending on your preference.)
- Heat about 1" of water in a medium saucepan until it begins to simmer slightly. Place a small, heat-proof bowl over the saucepan. Add all of the ingredients (chocolate, butter, corn syrup and water) to the bowl, and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Remove mixture from heat and allow it to cool at room temperature for 20 minutes before pouring over cake.
- Place one layer of cooled cake on a large platter. Frost the top of the layer with the Caramel Frosting, reserving about 1/2 cup of the frosting for garnishing the top of the cake.
- Place the second layer of cake on top of the first.
- Pour the warm Chocolate Glaze evenly over the top of the cake, allowing it to cover the top and run down the edges. If necessary, use a small offset spatula to help evenly distribute the glaze. Allow glaze to cool and harden slightly before garnishing.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a small star tip (I used a #32 tip), pipe 8 large stars evenly around the top edge of the cake.
- Place an unwrapped Milky Way Simply Caramel Bite in the center of each star.
- Cake can be served chilled or at room temperature.
Oh my gosh. I am quite literally salivating. My kids have loved the Milky Way Simply Caramel bars since we discovered them a while back, but I didn’t know they came in bites too. This cake looks unbelievable!
Thank you so much, Judy!! The bites are a new creation…and they’re dangerously addicting! 🙂
wow I wish i was not checking out all these amazing recipes during lent. I will pin this for Easter.
haha…I know, Maria! This cake would be great for the Easter table, though! It’ll give you something to look forward to, right? 🙂
Amateur mistake David… you need to throw the candy wrappers in the trash and then throw some other garbage on top of them so the wife never finds them. Haha, I speak from experience of course. This cake looks ridiculously good! Love a good milky way and the fact that you transformed it into a cake is mind-blowing awesome! Pinning 🙂
Haha…you are totally right, Chris! I managed to hide the package…but totally forgot about wrappers. Complete rookie mistake right there. Thanks for stopping by…and hope the weather is a bit better down your way!
Okay, going to take THIS cake to Easter lunch at my in-laws. As if they could love me anymore! LOL! GREAT job! Brandi from Collective Bias
Thank you SO much, Brandi! There’s nothing like showing up at the in-laws with a car load of homemade desserts, right? 🙂
That looks like my kind of cake. (Actually, I might request this for my next birthday!) 🙂
#client
Haha…thanks, Amy! It’s a great one…and I might just have to make it again for my birthday. (I’ll save you a slice!)
Dave:
I have a Milky Way Cake recipe -that has l pound of Milky Ways in the batter. It is cooked in as a pound cake and has a fantasy fudge icing. This one also looks good and I will be trying it soon. Thanks.
That cake you describe sounds delicious, too, Ann! Anything that involves cake and Milky Ways is bound to be delicious, right? 🙂
So, Dear, I MUST make this cake as soon as possible. It looks delightful and I’m a huge caramel frosting fan. Chocolate, of course, is one of the basic food groups, so it just stands to reason that this will be a wonderful addition to my recipe box. I do have to make a slight correction, though….the villains from Rocky & Bullwinkle were Boris & Natasha. Snidely Whiplash was the thorn in the side of Dudley DoRight. I will, of course, forgive these errors since you have established yourself in my good graces by offering me a recipe that includes both chocolate and caramel.
Ah, what a rookie mistake! I can’t believe I mixed up Rocky & Bullwinkle and Dudly DoRight. I am so ashamed. Maybe I just need to make another one of these cakes and drown my shame in chocolate and caramel. Yes, that will do nicely. 🙂 Thank you so much, Sylphie!