Imagine the moment you cut into a cake and pull that first piece out. Now imagine a waterfall of candy pouring out of the center of the cake. Every child’s dream come true! This recipe was inspired by a conversation at work; my friend Mary was telling us how she liked to surprise her kids with candy-filled cakes on their birthdays. She used a variety of candies and one time actually filled the cake with runny orange frosting and called it a volcano! I loved the idea and decided to bake my cake in a bowl to make it tall enough to fill (Mary used layers). What a fun idea for the upcoming Halloween season- the possibilities are as endless as the candy on the shelves! Here’s how it was made:
INGREDIENTS:
- One boxed cake mix (any flavor you’d like- I used confetti)
- Water, eggs and oil to make mix according to box
- Candy to fill center of cake (I used Skittles and it took about 1 1/2 cups of candy)
- 1 stick of salted butter
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1 t. clear vanilla flavor
- Sprinkles to decorate with if desired.
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Prepare cake according to package and pour into a greased and floured 2 quart glass bowl (I used my 2 Quart Batter Bowl
from Pampered Chef)
- Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes- or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes.
- Run a knife around edges to loosen, and gently tip out onto a wire cake rack to cool completely.
- Once cool, trim flat edge even and set on serving plate with dome side up.
- Cut a round opening in the top of the cake, gently pulling the cake out. Keep the top layer, but spoon out the core, leaving about an inch of cake at the bottom.
- Gently pour candy into the center of the cake and place the top back on (like a pumpkin!)
- Make frosting by beating softened butters, powdered sugar and vanilla on high until light and fluffy.
- Frost cake and decorate as desired.
- Cut a slice and watch the smiles start!
My thoughts: This is SO much fun to cut into and serve- it made everyone laugh when the skittles started pouring out! It serves up messy (be prepared to scoop skittles out for each serving). The Skittles started to get soft inside the moist cake eventually- they still tasted great- but if you want them fresh just serve this within a few hours of making it. You’ll want to think this through for other candy types as well. I’m guessing most would be best served right away. Believe me— it is worth the surprise factor!!!! Enjoy!!!! -r
9-24-12 My friend Angie from the Czech Republic just sent this picture of her cupcakes using this recipe:
SO fun! Great job Angie!! If you want to try a cupcake version of this cake, save some time with a Cupcake Corer
EASYBAKED 
So colorful and fun – I know my daughter would love this! And then there would be no nap 🙂
i love this! I just showed my husband and he said that we should make it for our son’s next birthday 🙂
Thanks! I think it would be such a fun birthday cake!!
Love love this idea. What fun. Can’t wait to make it for my grandkids. Thanks for sharing.
Happy grandkids 🙂
Aww, this is a brilliant piece of work! =D
What a genius idea! I’m bookmarking this for Misses 4 and 6’s birthdays x
Wow that’s awesome!
Thank you!
What wonderful timing of this amazing surprise cake idea of yours!! I just made surprise cupcakes for Luke’s 2nd birthday today (also with skittles that I happened to have on hand from a Czech friend)! They turned out great (I’ve already eaten one!). I can’t wait to show him and celebrate tonight! Keep your ideas coming…:)
I want to see pictures Angie 🙂 I wondered how this would work with cupcakes– Happy Birthday Luke!!!! Hard to believe he is 2 already!
I LOVE THIS!!! I was wanting to do this for a friends cake, but would need to refrigerate or maybe even freeze the cake. I was wondering if you have ever tried this and refrigerated the cake? Did it still work
I have not tried it refrigerated or frozen. I really think you need to fill and frost close to the time you serve it though. The moisture of the cake will make the filling candy soft, and the longer you wait to serve it the gooier it would get (I imagine!). You might end up with a fairly soggy lump of candy in the middle… you certainly could try it though and let us all know how it works for you– I’m sure there are others who are curious!
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Do you think I could use chocolate candies in the middle….ie: smarties, m&ms….chocolate pebbles?
I think you could use chocolates that are resistant to melting- like M&Ms, but I’d serve the cake shortly after filling it. The moisture of the cake is the biggest issue, but I think it would work ok- and would be SO yummy!!
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is this too cute for a 16yr old boy? he loves skittles
It depends on the 16 year old boy 🙂 You could color the cake a fun dark blue or purple and frost it differently to make it more for a boy? Maybe use bright sprinkles instead of pastel ones? Another option that a friend of mine did with this recipe is to make them into cupcakes- you could do those in bright colors? Just a few ideas. Have fun experimenting!!! 🙂