Ding Dong Cake-rich devil’s food cake, a vanilla cream filling and smothered in chocolate ganache!
Ding Dongs, Ring Dings, Swiss Rolls, Hostess Cakes. They are all pretty much the same snack. Chocolate Cake, a cream filling and then covered in chocolate.
As a kid, we always begged for mom to buy them for our school lunches. It didn’t happen too often, but when it did..yeah, we were happy kids! It’s been years since I had one. What good memories.
I shared a Twinkie Cake on FB a few days ago. Made from scratch. It was perfect and I can’t wait to make one myself.
One reader asked for a recipe for a Ding Dong Cake. I decided I needed to fill that request. I took it as a challenge.
Don’t let the recipe scare you off. This is a really easy recipe! You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry. Bake your 2 cake layers, then stack them with all the cream filling. You want all that filling in there. Then the Ganache.
Get a close up look at that chocolate ganache.
This is a “sloppy” cake. No fancy icing. Pouring the ganache over the top of the cake and letting it drip down the sides is FUN!
And when the ganache is set…You’ve got a perfect cake. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to top this cake. Moist, rich, deep flavored chocolate cake. The cream filling is like whipped cream but thicker (it’s made with milk not cream) the best way to describe it is a cross between a buttercream and a whipped cream.
And of course the ganache. That soft chocolate outer coating that seals everything together.
Don’t let the photos deceive you. This is a huge cake! Make sure you have people to share it with.
Connect with Chocolate Chocolate and More!
Cake adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ding Dong Cake
Ingredients
for the cake
- 3 ounces semi sweet baking chocolate (you can use chocolate chips)
- 1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
for the cream filling
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
for the ganache
- 1 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
for the cake
- Chop chocolate so no pieces are larger than a chocolate chip. Place chocolate in a medium bowl or a 2 cup measuring cup and pour hot coffee over chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes then stir, making sure all chocolate is melted and well combined with coffee. Set aside to cool.
- Sift all dry ingredients together-sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the a large mixing bowl (or the mixing bowl of your stand mixer) beat eggs on medium speed until frothy.
- Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and chocolate-coffee mixture to eggs, beating well to blend.
- Add in sugar/flour/cocoa mixture, one cup at a time, mixing just to combine after each addition.
- Pour batter into 2 9 inch cake pans that have been well greased and lined with parchment paper on the bottom.
- Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 45-50 minutes, using toothpick to test for doneness.
- Let cakes cool completely in pan. Using a plastic knife, run knife around edges to loosen before turning out onto rack or plate.
for the cream filling
- Pour cold milk into a small saucepan. Before turning on the heat, whisk in flour so no lumps remain. Turn heat on to medium low, and stirring, heat until mixture is thick, like a roux. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and let cool completely.
- Cream together butter and sugar on medium high speed, until fluffy, about 8 minutes.
- Add in the milk mixture and beat again until mixture resembles a whipped cream.
to assemble
- Place one layer of cake on an 8 inch cake circle, top side down. Cover with a thick layer of cream filling then place top layer of cake, top side down, on top of filling gently pressing down to secure layers. Place cake on a wire rack on top of a wax paper lined cookie sheet.
ganache
- Place chocolate chips in a large measuring cup.
- Heat cream and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until boiling, careful not to scorch.
- Pour heated cream over chocolate chips and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir chocolate to make sure completely melted and smooth.
- Slowly pour ganache over top of cake, letting it drip down the sides. If needed use a spatula to help spread ganache on top over sides.
- When ganache is set, cake can be transferred to a serving plate.
- Chill cake for 4 hours before serving.
Notes
For cupcakes, bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Makes 48 cupcakes.
This cake tastes best chilled but can be served at room temperature.
recipe source ChocolateChocolateandmore.com
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Marisa says
I have all the ingredients for this except coffee, as no one in my house drinks it. Is there anything I could substitute for it? Thanks!
Joan Hayes says
You can replace the coffee with just hot water. Enjoy!
Cristy L says
This cake looks amazing! However, we don’t drink coffee and don’t ever have any in the house. Is there anything you could recommend as a substitute for the hot coffee?
Joan Hayes says
you can just use hot water to replace the coffee.
Cristy+L says
Great, going to try it out tonight!!
claire says
I made this and it was every bit as delicious as I had imagined. Thanks for the recipe!
Roberta says
Hi, I plan to make this cake as it looks really yummy. However I noticed that in the ingredients list for the ganache, heavy cream is mentioned, while the method only refers to milk and butter. Am I not understanding something?
Joan Hayes says
I’ll correct that, it should say the heated heavy cream. Thanks for catching that!
Emily says
I just made this and I ended up using 3 round cake pans as it just looked like WAY too much batter. I am glad I did because all 3 cakes came out level with the tops of the pans. When making the cream filling it kind of seemed to curdle or separate. I have popped it into the fridge in hopes that will firm it up a bit! Otherwise everything so far tastes amazing. The chocolate cake recipe is my new favorite go to cake recipe!
Joan Hayes says
You need to really whip the filling, think whipping cream to the butter stage. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Emily says
Oh, I was worried once its started separating that it was beyond saving. I filled the cake anyway cause it still tasted yummy. I will definitely try again.
Celeste says
I knew as soon as I saw this recipe that I HAD to make it! My husband has food allergies, so I made a gluten-free version and Oh, was it amazing! Served it to our families and everyone loved it. We will definitely be making this again! Thank you for posting this delightful recipe…I posted it on my blog with a link back to your site and have already recommended it to a few friends.
Sharon Hill says
We drank the batter. :p
Actually, we didn’t, we wanted to, but we controlled ourselves. We made this cake to quench our desire for Ring Dings, which we can’t get in Oregon.
I agree with Jessie W. and Betty M. – it looked like WAY too much batter for two 9″ rounds, so I quickly greased and parchmented another pan, and divided it three ways. Yes, Wilton pans are higher around the sides (I have one random one), and they probably would have contained all that batter.
I also increased the filling recipe to have enough to put between the three layers. We could have eaten a whole lot of that, too, before assembling the cake. The ganache recipe made plenty with the amounts given in the recipe.
The result: a giant of a deliciously sinful cake!! It weighed well over 8 pounds!! It was totally yummy and the perfect fix for Ring Ding/Ding Dong deprived folk!
However, I have a suggestion. Reduce the ingredients by one third (get out those calculators) and use two regular 9” pans and you will still have a mammoth cake! A reduction of one third will save money and refrigerator space. Our family of six will never be able to finish this huge cake before it loses its appeal. We are planning on taking some to neighbors and co-workers, who will certainly enjoy it.
It is a fantastic cake; thank you for the recipe! I will definitely make a scaled down version again!
Joan Hayes says
Thanks for all the great tips. You’re right about the Wilton Pans, I need to remember that when I create these recipes that everyone might not be using them. So glad you all enjoyed it!
Cindy K. says
Cake freezes well so I plan to share some and freeze some slices to enjoy later,
AJ says
I just finished baking this and from the few crumbs I had that fell off the cake, it tastes great! It did get a little (or a lot) messier than the pics as I only let the layers cool about 30 minutes before putting together and it cause about half the cream filling to melt and run over the bottom layer. Also I think the cream filling would possibly be better with powder sugar instead of regular granulated sugar? Otherwise I am sure my mom will love her surprise birthday cake as she loves ding dongs! ty!
VICKY says
MADE THIS CAKE AND IT IS DELICIOUS! IT IS MY HUSBAND’S FAVORITE CAKE. THANK YOU FOR A DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE
Frank Fasi says
Hi there…how do u mean by brewed coffee?
Joan Hayes says
By Brewed Coffee, I mean coffee that is ready to drink.
pamela whitelaw says
Help. I am making the cake right now. My cream filling is thin and lumpy. What am I doing wrong. I need to bring this cake to work. They are all looking forward to it today
Joan Hayes says
So sorry I didn’t see this comment earlier. You need to keep whipping the filling until it thickens and all lumps are gone. It can take 10-15 minutes.
Phil Eddings says
I went to Wal-Mart, Bought Two Pks Ding Dongs . Placed them side by side. Made the ganache poured over them !!! Delicious. About one third the cost!! lol
Rachel G. says
Could I use heavy cream instead of coffee or must it be coffee?? I don’t drink coffee or know how to make it and am trying to avoid buying an ingredient I won’t ever use.
Joan Hayes says
You can replace the coffee with water.
Leslie says
Oh I love where your going with this. I’ll admit, I’m drooling a little! Thanks for sharing!
Karen says
Could you do this as a cupcake? If so, about how many would it make? I am celebrating my 60th birthday and as a long time fan of ding dongs thought this would be wonderful…my only issues is I wanted to do cupcakes not a large cake.
Joan Hayes says
Happy 60th! Yes you can do this as cupcakes, it’ll probably make at least 36-40 cupcakes. Only fill the cupcake cups 2/3 full, this batter does rise a lot.
Karen says
Could you do cupcakes instead of a cake? If so, appox how many do you think this would make?
Joan Hayes says
This really is a huge cake, I’d say it would make at least 36-40 cupcakes. Be sure to only fill your cupcake cups 2/3 full, these will rise, a lot!
Suz says
This looks great and I want to make the cake version but I’m supposed to bring cupcakes to a big party. What temp and how long should I bake for cupcakes?
Joan Hayes says
The temperature would stay the same, 325 degrees. I would start checking the cupcakes at about 18 minutes. Most cupcakes take 18-25 minutes to bake.
Dawn says
This cake looks like heaven and can’t wait to try. I was wondering though. I’m not a fan of coffee and even the littlest amount added to a recipe I can taste. I know you can usually sub for water but can you use hot chocolate to give it more flavor?
Joan Hayes says
the hot chocolate mix will have additional sugar so I’d just leave out the coffee and use the water alone. Don’t worry about adding in a substitute. Enjoy!
Dawn says
Made this recipe this morning and all I have to say is OMGosh!!!! Very moist, very rich and full of chocolate. I made the recipe into cupcakes. Baked at the recommended temperature per recipe and baked for 25 mins. The recipe yielded 48 scrumptious cupcakes. Piped your cream in center, topped with your ganache and a dollop of some homemade chocolate frosting for good measure. Ahhhmazing!
Joan Hayes says
OMG, cupcakes would be dangerous, way too easy to eat 5 or 6 before I realized what I was doing, haha. Love the dollop of frosting on top! Thanks for the baking time, I’ll add it to the recipe notes so others will know.
Cindy K. says
I just made this cake and used 3 regular size round cake pans and it ran over. Have a huge mess in the oven now and burnt smell in the house. Disappointed. It was for my mother-in-law’s birthday.
StefZero says
Thanks for sharing this recipe to me. I intend to make this cake tonight because this cake looks so yummy and delicious