Milky Way Bundt Cake
This Milky Way Bundt Cake features Milky Way candy bars baked in the cake and sprinkled on top. It’s the perfect dessert for the chocolate lover in your life!
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As I was unwrapping the Milky Way bars to make this cake, I was reminded of a fun story way back when I was in grade school. There were 5 of us boys who carpooled to school together, and each family rotated driving responsibilities. Friday was the Parker’s day. Back then, Mrs. Parker drove a station wagon. You know, the epic 80’s station wagon with wood paneling on the outside? Yeah, that kind of station wagon! That wagon was longer than a boat and probably impossible to parallel park…but it was a great way to haul a bunch of boys around after school.
That wagon also had the real-facing rumble seat that popped up in the back trunk, and I remember we’d take turns with riding back there. Those rear-facing seats have kinda disappeared in cars today (probably for safety reasons), but I still miss them. Although, as a driver now, it might be a bit strange to pull up in traffic and have two 8-year-old boys staring right at you.
Mrs. Parker had Friday carpool duty, so of course we were always in a good mood when she picked us up on Friday afternoon. Armed with the promise of weekend adventures ahead, we’d pile into her car and head home. But Mrs. Parker took Friday carpool to the next level. She’d often have little games for us to play on the drive home. For some reason, I still vividly remember the time she asked us to guess the number of times MC Hammer said “Hammer Time” in his famous song. The prize? A king-sized Milky Way bar. I don’t remember what I guessed, but I do remember that I won. As if a rambunctious 8-year-old on a Friday afternoon really needed a huge candy bar!
Milky Way Bundt Cake
Milky Way Bundt CakeFast forward 30 years, and I now prefer to bake with my candy bars rather than eat them plain. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll still eat candy bars with the best of ’em…especially those mini-candy bars at Halloween time. But baking with candy bars is still more fun. Take this Milky Way Bundt Cake for instance. This cake is perfect for the chocolate lovers in your life! Start with a chocolate bundt cake (complete with melted Milky Way bars in the cake). Top that cake with an easy chocolate ganache. And then add some chopped Milky Way bars on top. That’s what I call one delicious cake!
This Milky Way Bundt Cake was a huge hit with Laura’s coworkers, too. (As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t justify keeping the entire cake in our house.) I got a text from Laura saying that the cake had been reduced to just a few crumbs by mid-morning. Good thing I saved an extra slice of this Milky Way Bundt Cake for myself here at home! Truthfully, this cake could probably be made with nearly any candy bar. Snickers, Baby Ruth, Hershey’s with Almonds or my favorite…the Skor bar. Ok, that’s it. I’m making this Milky Way Bundt Cake again this weekend…but with Skor bars. And I’m not sharing it with Laura’s coworkers!
Oh, and for the record, MC Hammer says Hammer Time 24 times in that song. File that away in case you ever have the opportunity to win a king-sized candy bar. Happy baking!
Did you make this Milky Way Bundt Cake at home? Leave a comment. Or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog)!
Looking for more tasty cake recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Charleston Coconut Cake
Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake
Carrot Cake Coffee Cake
Chocolate Ombre Cake
Ontbijtkoek (Dutch breakfast cake)
Milky Way Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 4 full-sized Milky Way candy bars chopped
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the Frosting
- 1⅓ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 full-sized Milky Way candy bars chopped
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Using a small saucepan, add candy bars, buttermilk, butter and cocoa powder. Place over medium heat; heat, stirring often, until butter has completely melted. Remove from heat and stir until well combined; set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
- Using a large mixing bowl, add sugar, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda; stir until well combined.
- Once chocolate mixture has cooled, pour into the bowl with the flour; stir until well combined.
- Using a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture into the bowl with the chocolate batter; stir until well combined. (Tip: Don’t forget to scrape sides of the bowl when stirring.)
- Grease and flour a standard Bundt pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
- Remove cake from oven and let rest in pan for 5 minutes. Invert pan onto cooling rack and let cool for 5 more minutes before lifting pan off. Let cake cool completely before adding frosting.
For the Frosting
- Using a small saucepan, add the chocolate chips and whipping cream; heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
- Pour frosting over top of cake.
- While frosting is still wet, sprinkle chopped candy bars on top. Let frosting set up (~1 hour) before slicing and serving.
You’d be a good person to have on a trivia team. You are filled with seemingly random facts! You’d also be a good person to invite to a potluck and ask you to bring a dessert! This bundt cake looks very moist and delicious and you just can’t go wrong with the candy decorations!
Hah! That’s the problem, though, Kathy. I’m a great person on a trivia team…depending on the categories. Old cartoons? Check. Roman history/mythology? Check. Pop culture? Huh, what’s that? 🙂 Thanks so much, my friend! This bundt cake really is quite delicious. I mean you can’t go wrong with chocolate!
I’m with you…I can eat candy bars with the best of ’em, but so much rather have them in the form of an over the top dessert, like this cake! Talk about an indulgent treat, David! P.S. Thanks for reminding me of ‘Hammer Time’ lol. That’s gonna be stuck in my head all.day.long 😉 Hope you have an awesome week, my friend!
You know, you make an excellent point, Dawn. I love those little ‘fun size’ candy bars, but I rarely eat an actual full size candy bar. I much prefer to bake with those instead! Also, I hope you ‘hammer-timed’ it all day yesterday! 🙂
It’s amazing how you remember that car so well, every details 🙂 I am not much of a chocolate person at all unless it’s a chocolate dessert like this milky way Bundt cake.
You know, I should probably be concerned that I can remember Mrs. Parker’s car from the late 80’s so well…but I can’t remember what I ate for lunch yesterday! 🙂 Thanks so much, Kankana!
I love this idea, David! I’d rather bake with a candy bar than eat it, too. (But don’t mess with my super-dark chocolate bar). And I totally remember the rear-facing seat, we had one in every station wagon we ever owned growing up. Hope you get the chance to make the Skor cake, too. I’d love a slice of that gem!
Haha! It’s funny that you mentioned super-dark chocolate bars. I got my Laura a super-dark one for her birthday one year…and it was so dark we could barely eat it! (I think it was like 90% though. Intense!) Also, now I can’t stop thinking about a Skor cake. That’s gonna need to happen! But first I need to find a reliable place to get Skors…those things aren’t easy to find!
When I saw the Milky Way bars on the cake, I thought they looked a bit different than I was used too. Turns out the Milky Way bars in the US are much different than the ones sold globally (no caramel, just whipped nougat). I never knew! Anyway it looks awesome. Also, who doesn’t love the mini chocolate bars that come around near Halloween, they are great!
Interesting! I know products change a bit from country to country, but I thought it was mainly the ingredients rather than the whole design. It sounds like your version of Milky Ways are what we call 3 Musketeers Bars over here. Either way this cake would be delicious! Thanks so much, Matt!
When it comes to candy bars, I rarely use them for baking However, I do like to sprinkle my dulce de leche donuts with some chopped candy bars or add it in ice cream. So good. Milky Way… I totally forgot this name! But honestly I haven’t seen it for many years (Or didn’t I pay attention?) – probably, they just don’t sell it in Canada. Interesting. I’ll need to investigate. If I don’t report you within next few days, that means I probably have found the candy and I’m very busy catching up with it haha:) Delicious cake, David!
So now you’ve got me wondering…do they not sell Milky Way bars in Canada? I wonder if they just go by another name? Either way, you should totally try baking with candy bars. It’s a fun excuse to eat candy bars! 🙂 Thanks so much, Ben!
I think desserts that incorporate candy bars are so much fun. And Milky Way! Yum! This is over-the-top! I have many carpooling memories, too — though none of them involve candy bars. Unless you count playing marshmallow!? 😉 ~Valentina
I couldn’t agree more, Valentina! What’s strange is that candy bars by themselves don’t call to me very often. But crumble that candy bar on a cake or some other dessert, and I’m all in! Oh, playing marshmallow! Hah! Thanks so much, my friend. 🙂
5 boys is a pretty big carpool! How nice for your parents to only have to drive you 1 day out of the week though…and I get dizzy just thinking about rear facing car seats! haha.
Tell me about it! It worked out pretty well that we had 5 kids in our carpool. Granted, that 1 day was probably nuts with 5 kids in the car, but it was only one day! And those rear-facing seats…whatever happened to those!?
Whoa. This looks decadent delicious, David! (that’s a lot of Ds…;) ) The texture of your cake looks absolutely perfect!
Thanks so much, Marissa! I love baking with candy bars. 🙂
this looks absolutely delicious david. when i bake, i usually hand over a fair whack of the cake or whatever to friends as it is sometimes too much for me and hubby to finish. I love the moistness that comes from using sour cream in a cake; always a winner. cheers sherry
Yup, you’re speaking my language here, Sherry. We give away a lot of dessert in this house! I freeze a lot of it, too, but there’s only so much you can hang on to. Also, I agree with you about sour cream in cakes. It’s like a not-so-secret weapon for making the best cake ever! 🙂
So, does the cake itself wind up tasting like the candy bar, aside from the pieces you put on top? Got to know! So “my kind of thing!”
Well, to be honest, the cake still tastes like a cake. It’s got great flavor, but it sadly doesn’t taste like a giant candy bar. The chopped candy on top, though? That helps bring this back to the candy bar side of things.
David, you are so talking my language with this Milky Way cake! I love trying to stuff as many candy bars into baked goods that can possibly fit! Yay you for winning the king sized Milky Way bar! Mrs. Parker’s carpool sounds awesome.
My cousins all had one of those long, wood-paneled station wagons with the rear facing seat. I really wanted one. I begged by parents to get me one when I turned 16. (I was still very young then.) The were surprisingly agreeable. By the time I turned 16, the joke was on me. By that time they were so not cool!
So I’m right there with ya, Kelly! I love baking with candy bars. There’s something so fun about incorporating candy bars into a cake/dessert. What’s funny is that candy bars by themselves don’t really call to me…but put ’em in a dessert? I’m all in!
So I’ve gotta know…did you end up driving one of those wood-paneled station wagons when you were 16!? They might not have been cool then, but man that would be awesome to drive one now!!
It’s amazing how you remember the details of your childhood incidents. that car and everything 🙂 I have a weak memory ;( Well, we are chocolate lovers and this will be a big hit in our home I am sure..
You know, on one hand we could say it’s amazing that I remembered the candy bar game. On the other hand, we could say it’s sad that I remembered a candy bar I ate 25+ years ago. Haha! Either way, this cake is a winner! Thanks, Priya!
I didn’t know you get Milky Way candy bars in the US! Ha ha they were always a childhood favourite of mine. Loved the story about the carpooling. Lucky you for winning the king sized Milky Way! Like you I prefer to bake using my favourite candy bars now. This is a recipe I hope to try David! Delicious!
So I’ve learned from this post that Milky Way bars in the US are different than the ones in Europe. Ours have caramel in them. I think 3 Musketeers bars here in the States are closer to what you guys call Milky Way bars. Confusing!! Either way, this cake is delicious…it’s always fun baking with candy bars. Thanks, Neil!
I shouldn’t have read this post after starting a healthy eating plan today.. but I will make this as a treat when I have reached my goal 😀
Yup, put this one out there as a sweet treat once you reach your goal! For the record, we’re doing the same thing with the healthy diet right now, Alexandra. We have to (sadly) send all of our treats off to friends/coworkers to avoid the temptation right now! Hang in there. 🙂