Kit Kat Cake

Kit Kats are one of the most popular candies in the world. The two-bars-in-one chocolate-covered wafer candy is available in many uniquely delicious Kit Kat flavors, including traditional chocolate, matcha, vanilla, blueberry cheesecake, orange, mint dark chocolate and more.

Have you ever thought of combining cake and Kit Kats? Well, when you do, magic happens! We all know cakes are desserts perfectly designed for celebrating. We’ll teach you how to make a Kit Kat cake for your next party.

Ingredients for Kit Kat Cake

• Chocolate cake mix: For the yummiest Kit Kat cake, buy one of the best chocolate cake mix brands at the store. Don’t forget to check the packaging for the other ingredients you’ll need to whip up the cake.
• Chocolate frosting: With so many premade chocolate frostings available, how is anyone to know which one to choose? Our Test Kitchen pros sat down and performed a blind chocolate frosting taste test on eight different popular brands to find the best one. The top three may surprise you!
• Kit Kat candy bars: You’ll need 32 Kit Kat bars, equating to eight packs with four bars in each one.
• M&M’s: Buy enough milk chocolate M&M’s to fill 1 cup. The M&M’s with seasonal colors are perfect if you’re making this Kit Kat cake with M&M’s for a holiday dessert.

Directions

Step 1: Bake the cakes

Use your favorite boxed chocolate cake mix, and bake the cakes in two 8-inch cake pans according to the package directions. Let the cakes fully cool to room temperature before frosting and decorating.

Step 2: Stack and frost the cakes

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Spread a generous, smooth layer of frosting between the layers and around the top of the cake and its outer layer, creating a double-layer cake.

Editor’s Tip: The best part about this cake is that it doesn’t matter how your frosting job looks—the top and sides will be covered with candy anyway!

Step 3: Add the Kit Kat bars

Sarah Tramonte/Taste of Home

Break the Kit Kats into individual wafer bars. Gently press each wafer onto the cake vertically, side by side, around the entire cake. Leave a tiny amount of space between each wafer (about 1/4 inch) to allow for easy slicing.

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Continue until the outside of the cake is coated with a “fence” of Kit Kats.

Step 4: Top the cake

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Cover the top of the cake with M&M’s, slightly pushing them into the top layer of frosting to adhere.

Slice into pieces and serve.

Test Kitchen Tip: For an extra-festive presentation, tie a bow with a ribbon around the Kit Kat cake. (This will also help keep the Kit Kats in place until the cake is ready to serve).

Recipe Variations

If you want to take your Kit Kat cake with M&M’s to the next level, try out some of these fun variations:

• Vanilla, matcha and raspberry cake: Whip up a vanilla cake mix, cover the cake layers with white frosting, press light green Matcha Kit Kat bars into the sides and top the cake with raspberries.
• Peanut butter and chocolate cake: Make a chocolate cake, frost it with peanut butter buttercream frosting, line the outside with Kit Kats and replace the M&M’s with Reese’s Pieces.
• Strawberry lovers cake: Bake a strawberry cake, cover it with strawberry frosting, press white chocolate or pink lemonade-flavored Kit Kats into the sides, and top the cake with fresh strawberries. Brush apricot jam on the strawberries for extra shine.

How to Store Kit Kat Cake

You can store your Kit Kat cake with M&M’s covered in storage wrap in the refrigerator for up to a week—though we’d be surprised if it wasn’t eaten long before then! You could also store slices in an airtight container. Press storage wrap on any exposed parts of the cake that have been sliced so the cake doesn’t dry out.

Can you freeze Kit Kat cake?

While you can freeze Kit Kat cake, we don’t recommend freezing it with the Kit Kats or M&M’s on it. The colors on the M&M’s will run once the M&M’s thaw, and the Kit Kats will bloom and get unsightly white spots all over them. To properly freeze the cake, take off the candy and wrap the cake in storage wrap. Freeze the cake for up to two months, then thaw it in the fridge overnight or on the countertop for an hour or so.

Kit Kat Cake Tips

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How do I serve Kit Kat cake?

Unwrap your present of a cake by releasing the bow. When you cut into your cake, you’re bound to have some runaway M&M’s, so don’t cut it on the very edge of a counter. The spacing between your wafers should make cutting even pieces of cake a breeze.

To make clean cuts, run a sharp chef’s knife under warm water, wipe away the water with a clean towel and make your first cut. Repeat these steps until you’ve cut all the pieces. It’s not at all necessary to do this, but you’ll have gorgeous, precise cuts of cake!

How else can I fill the top of the Kit Kat cake?

Instead of filling the top of the Kit Kat cake with M&M’s, you can use mini-Oreos, chocolate shavings, broken-up pieces of Kit Kats or chocolate-covered strawberries. Fill the top with red and pink candy if this cake is for your Valentine, or create an Easter scene by filling the top with green-dyed coconut shavings, Peeps and robins egg candy.

Can I use my own cake and frosting recipes?

Absolutely! We suggest a box mix and premade frosting only to keep this Kit Kat cake super easy. But if you’re a baking purist, feel free to use your favorite chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream frosting recipes.