I love a Snickers bar, the combination of peanut, chocolate and caramel is so yummy to me. They are one of my favourite chocolate bars and have inspired me to make this Chocolate Snickers Cake, which combines all those tasty flavours. The only thing missing is the nougat, but this is quite faffy to make from scratch and to be honest you don't miss it when you're tucking into a slice of this beauty! It's got a lovely chocolate sponge that's filled and topped with a chocolate and peanut butter buttercream. There's caramel sauce inside and all over the top, then you've got crunchy roasted peanuts which again are inside and on top to get that Snickers flavour throughout the cake. On top of the cake are Snickers bars of course! I've chopped them up so you can see the lovely layers inside them.
Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information
- Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
- I used a baking spread for the cake and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
- If you can't get hold of Snickers bars, you could decorate the top of the cake with more peanuts.
- I used roasted salted peanuts for the cake, the salt cuts into the sweetness of the cake and it give you salted caramel vibes!
- If you need a caramel sauce recipe, try my Homemade Caramel Sauce.
- You can use any cocoa powder for this cake, of course the better quality it is, the better flavour it will have. Also do make sure you are using cocoa powder and not a hot chocolate powder.
- Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
- For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make Chocolate Snickers Cake
To make the cake mix the butter and sugar together, then whisk in eggs and milk, followed by cocoa powder, baking powder and self raising flour.
Divide the mixture between the cake tins and bake them for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Then layer up the cake, fill each layer with chocolate peanut butter buttercream, caramel sauce and roasted peanuts. To decorate the cake, pipe buttercream rosettes all around the top, and some smaller ones in the centre. Then drizzle over plenty of caramel sauce, and a generous amount of peanuts! Then add sliced Snickers bar all around the edge.
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Can this cake be made with two layers?
Yes! Please check the notes after the recipe at the bottom of this post for details. It can also be made with one layer.
Can this cake be made in different size cake tins?
Yes! If you would like to make this cake in different size tins, please check my Conversion Guide to find out how to adjust the recipe.
Can this recipe be made into cupcakes?
Yes! Please head to my Snickers Cupcakes post for the recipe.
How should the cake be stored and can it be frozen?
The cake will keep in an airtight container for 3 days in a cool place. You can freeze the sponges either alone, or decorated. Once the sponges are fully cool, wrap them well with cling film or put them in an airtight container with some baking paper between them. You can freeze the buttercream on it’s own in a tub, or you can decorate the cake and freeze it fully assembled. To do this and avoid damage to the decoration, freeze it in an airtight container. Or let it freeze solid on a cake board or plate, then wrap in cling film. Remove the cling film when you take it out to defrost it, if you don’t it could damage the appearance of the decoration as it defrosts and softens. You can also freeze slices of the cake, again well wrapped in cling film or in airtight containers.
What caramel sauce is best to use?
My favourite caramel sauce to use is my Homemade Caramel Sauce, it's rich, smooth and absolutely divine! You can also easily add salt to it to make it into a salted caramel sauce. If you don't want to make your own, it's quite easy nowadays to find a good quality ready made caramel (or salted caramel) sauce in the shops or online. I have used Tesco's Finest, Bonn Maman and Carnation Caramel in the past with great results.
Can this cake be made with a peanut butter sponge?
This cake is definitely more about chocolate, with peanut flavour coming a close second. If you're looking for a cake where peanut butter come first and chocolate second, then check out my Reese's Peanut Butter Cake. It has a peanut butter sponge that you could use for this cake too if you want even more peanut butter flavour!
Can you make the cake with plain/all purpose flour?
Self raising flour, which is very commonly used in the UK where I am based, already contains a raising agent and a little salt too. Therefore if you want to swap it for plain or all purpose flour, you will need to add some additional baking powder and also a little salt if you like. Some people like to add salt to cake recipes and some don't, so I'll leave that up to you as it won't affect the bake. The general advice is to add 2 teaspoons baking powder (a measuring teaspoon, not the kind you stir your coffee with) per every 200g plain or all purpose flour. So for this recipe you'd need to add 4 additional teaspoons baking powder. Please note, I have not tested this recipe using plain or all purpose flour.
Can this cake be made gluten free?
Yes! For gluten free you can replace the self raising flour with a gluten free self raising flour blend. If you only have a gluten free plain flour blend, you will need to add additonal baking powder. The general advice is to add 2 tsp baking powder per 200g flour, so for this recipe you'd need to add 4 additional teaspoons baking powder. You may also like to add ¾ tsp xanthan gum for better texture. Please do check the labels for everything you use to make the cake if you are serving it to someone with an allergy or intolerance.
Can this cake be made dairy free?
For a dairy free version, use a dairy free baking spread and dairy free milk for both the cake and buttercream. I recommend Flora Plant or the Stork Baking Block for the buttercream, as they give the best texture. You will also need to use a dairy free caramel sauce, and a dairy free alternative to Snickers bars. Or you can decorate the cake with more peanuts Please do check the labels for everything you use to make the cake if you are serving it to someone with an allergy or intolerance.
Do you need an electric mixer to make this recipe?
While you can absolutely make this recipe with a wooden spoon and some elbow grease, I do recommend using an electric mixer for the best results. The cake will be lighter and fluffier when made with an electric mixer. The buttercream will also be smoother. You don't have to use an expensive stand mixer either, you can get electric hand whisks for as little as £10!
More tips for making the Chocolate Snickers Cake:
- I used a Jem 1E nozzle to pipe the buttercream onto the cake.
- You can spread the buttercream onto the cake if you don't want to pipe it.
Troubleshooting
If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
- 8" cake tins
- Mixing bowls
- Cooling rack
- Kitchen scales
- Electric hand mixer
- Round cake tin liners
- Cake tester
- Piping bags
- Jem 1E Piping nozzle
- Salted Caramel Sauce
- Snickers
*I earn a small amount of money if you buy the products after clicking on the links. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Thank you for supporting The Baking Explorer!
More Snickers recipes...
Chocolate Snickers Cake
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 500 g Butter or baking spread softened, unsalted
- 500 g Caster sugar
- 9 Eggs large
- 1 tbsp Milk
- 75 g Cocoa powder
- 425 g Self raising flour
- ¼ tsp Baking powder
For the buttercream
- 300 g Butter softened, unsalted
- 125 g Peanut butter
- 545 g Icing sugar
- 55 g Cocoa powder
- 4-5 tbsp Milk
For filling and decoration
- 250 g Caramel sauce good quality shop bought or homemade
- 100 g Roasted peanuts salted is ok
- 6 Snickers bars Chopped up
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, and grease and line three 8" cake tins that are at least 2" deep
- Make the sponge by mixing the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl until fluffy, ideally using an electric mixer
- Add the eggs and milk, and whisk until fully incorporated
- Add the cocoa powder, baking powder and self raising flour and whisk in gently until you can't see any flour anymore
- Divide the mixture between the tins, use scales for accuracy if you like
- Bake them for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave them to fully cool either in the tins or on cooling racks
- If the cakes have domed on top, level them off with a cake leveller or a knife
- To make the buttercream, mix together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Then add the cocoa powder, icing sugar and milk, for best results use an electric mixer
- Whisk until smooth, you can add extra milk if the buttercream is too stiff
- Stack the sponges up on your plate or cake stand, piping or spreading buttercream between each layer. Drizzle the caramel over each layer of buttercream, and sprinkle some peanuts on top
- When you get to the last layer, pipe larger rosettes all around the edge and smaller ones in the centre, drizzle over more caramel sauce and add some peanuts too
- Add the chopped Snickers pieces all around the edge
- Serve immediately, store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within 3 days
Video
Notes
- Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
- I used a baking spread for the cake and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
- If you can't get hold of Snickers bars, you could decorate the top of the cake with more peanuts.
- I used roasted salted peanuts for the cake, the salt cuts into the sweetness of the cake and it give you salted caramel vibes!
- If you need a caramel sauce recipe, try my Homemade Caramel Sauce.
- You can use any cocoa powder for this cake, of course the better quality it is, the better flavour it will have. Also do make sure you are using cocoa powder and not a hot chocolate powder.
- Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
- For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.
Nutrition
If you like this, check out more of my Cake recipes!
NB. This post is NOT sponsored by Snickers – I just love their product!
Cat | Curly's Cooking
You outdo yourself every cake I see of yours! This looks amazing. Snickers are delicious and I can only image how tasty the flavours would be in this cake. Thanks for linking to #cookblogshare
thebakingexplorer
Aww you're too kind!
Zara
Hello, is this cake enough stabile to be decorated with buttercream, for a birthday?
thebakingexplorer
Hi Zara, yes it is, do let me know how it goes!
Jhuls
Hey, Kat! How did you know I am craving for cake and snickers? I’d have a slice, please. Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party!
Life Diet Health
Wow Kat! Another gorgeous looking cake! I'm tempted to make one but I know my waist would rather I didn't lol! 😛 I hope you're doing okay in this current climate!? Thanks for taking the time to link up and share with us at Fiesta Friday this week.
Priya
Mine didn't look as good as yours and I may have eaten some snickers during the process but it turned out fab and everyone loved it! Thanks again for your recipes!!
Neha
Hi ... i want to make this ... but i want it just one layer ... should i just halve the ingredients???
thebakingexplorer
For one layer you would need to reduce by 2/3, so 3 eggs, 175g butter etc.
Kaz
Hi Kat
I’ve made these cakes as muffins and were totally delicious. Now want to make the cake with two sponges not three. Could you tell me ingredients please for this .
Many thanks and this cake is amazing , so thanks
thebakingexplorer
Thanks Kaz, I'm so pleased you liked them! Yes to make this into a two layer cake you just need to use two thirds of the ingredients, for example 6 eggs instead of 9 and so forth.
Kaz
Thanks for your reply regarding two sponges . Maths was never my things so can I just confirm with you , instead of 500g of sugar and stork it would be 333g and 283g of flour? Sorry , but just want to get it right ...
Thanks in advance
thebakingexplorer
Yes so you need to multiply all of the ingredient amounts by 0.666, so you are correct in saying 333g of sugar and 283g flour. You can probably round up to 335 and 285 though if it's easier, a couple of grams won't make a difference. For the baking powder just use a small pinch. I hope that helps! 🙂
Kaz
Thanks for that info, can’t wait to bake it now !
Nully
Ohh my god thank you for always sharing you delicious recipe May god bless you
Naseera
What to do if I don’t have double cream to make the sauce and no shop near me has caramel sauce 🙁
thebakingexplorer
Hi Naseera, you can order caramel sauce online! Amazon sell it 🙂
Nafisa
Hi I made this cake for my niece whose favorite chocolate is snickers
Didnt quite look like as neat as yours but tasted amazing, the chocolate cake was so light and fluffy
Thankyou
Lauren
Made this yesterday, and it was SO good! The chocolate sponge is so moist and the peanut butter chocolate buttercream is delicious!
Easily the best chocolate sponge I have made. So glad mine turned out as good as I had hoped for! Thank you for this recipe, will definitely make again.
Zee
Hii,
If I don't have any self-rising flour, how many tsp of baking powder shall I use in total? For the 500g of AP flour. Please let me know.
thebakingexplorer
Hi Zee, this is detailed within the blog post, it's 4 additional teaspoons baking powder. I hope you enjoy the cake!
Maja
I made this today as my first cake for my mum's birthday and it turned out amazing. Definitely recommend!!