Making this Dong Dong Cake was a recreation of my favorite childhood treat! Rich chocolate cake, creamy filling and a heavenly chocolate coating on the outside.
Ding Dong Cake
What is a Ding Dong? It is a treat that we were often given as kids. Basically a chocolate whoopie pie with a glorious cream filling. I have modified it to be a cake and it’s heavenly!
This cake is one of those cakes that works perfectly as one. The ganache on its own is a bit bitter (when using semi-sweet chocolate), the filling is light and wonderful but does not stand alone like a pudding or sweet frosting, and the cake is just chocolate perfection. But these three elements work together in perfect harmony to create a cake that you will never forget.
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Ding Dong Cake Filling
Some of you experienced bakers recognized this filling immediately! It’s also known as an Ermine frosting. This frosting has a few extra steps compared to a traditional American buttercream, but the result is well worth it. Subtle and creamy, it is the PERFECT filling for this beyond rich cake.
This is a fantastic Ding Dong Cake and a lovely way to celebrate with friends and family!
- 1 3/4 cup (210g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cup (400g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (90g) good unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 cup (240g) buttermilk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (112g) vegetable oil
- 2 extra-large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp. McCormick pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (237g) freshly brewed hot coffee
- 5 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 226g) butter
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped fine (can use milk chocolate)
- 16 oz (2 cups) heavy cream room temperature
- Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl and mix until combined.
- In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into two 8-inch x 3-inch round prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350°F, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out mostly clean (not wet).
- Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
- 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 heat until mixture is thick, like a roux, stirring the whole time.
- 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.
- Heat the heavy cream in a quart-sized, microwavable container and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes on high, or until it just begins to simmer. Be careful not to allow the cream to boil over. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and let stand for at least 2 minutes so that it can thicken.
- (Ganache should be cool when pouring over cake)
- When ready to pour over chilled cake, whisk the ganache until smooth and then pour. You may have some ganache left over.
The chocolate cake in this recipe is my Perfect Chocolate Cake. The batter is very runny and it is designed to be made in two 8-inch round cake pans. A few of you have commented that when you made this Ding Dong Cake the batter spilled over, and I have never been able to replicate that in my kitchen. If you prefer you can use 9-inch round cake pans but the layers will not be as thick as you see in my pictures.
I just want you to know that I absolutely read comments and try to address all concerns! The majority has had no issues with the recipe and therefore I am not making any changes to it at this time.
Like this cake? Check out my Peanut Butter Ding Dong Cake!
Can I use 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of 1 cup
granulated sugar for the filling?
Thank you
Can you use any kind of coffee? I have some Seattle Best, vanilla flavored. Or should it be pure plain?
Thanks~
For the ding dong cake. Can a box cake mix work?
Made this afternoon for a St. Patrick’s dinner tomorrow
evening – just added green food coloring to the filling
and green sprinkles on top…looks like a winner!! Does
this Ding Dong cake need to be refrigerated if not eating
for another 24 hours? I’m fairly new at baking….thank
you for inspiring me with your wonderful recipes!!
The first time I made this my batter ran over. (Still taster great) After checking the recipe again you mentioned 8 × 3 inch round. My pans are not 3 inch deep. This time I filled them with less batter ( unfortunately wasting some batter). I hope they turn out nicer looking.
Omg! What a WONDERFUL CAKE, made its appears on two occasions, my oldest daughter and hubby today. Yumo
Can or should the ding dong cake be refrigerated when it’s kept overnight? I made it exactly to your recipe Amanda
My sister made this cake and gave me 1/4 of it. Lord, it was SOOOoooo good and very rich! She is a great baker and cook! Great job, Rochelle!
I ended up making “Ding Dong Drops” from this recipe. I poured the batter into a 24 mini muffin pan 3/4 full for each muffin. Baked it at 350° for 15 minutes. After calling for 10 minutes I removed them from the muffin pan.
I took the filling and put it inside a cake decorating bag with a star tip. I put the tip into the top of the mini dingdong drops and squeezed the filling into the middle. Once cool, I then picked up the dingdong drop and dipped it upside down into the Ganache frosting with a quick swirl on top.
Perfect little bite-size yummy’s for our guests. What a HIT they were.
I am a Baker and know what to do about cake assembly but for those who are beginners your recipe gives No instructions on cake assembly just that the cake needs to be refrigerated before Ganache is added, also adding instructions that the cake should be placed on a wire rack that sits inside a cookie sheet so the Ganache can drip down and not puddle around on a cake plate and over the sides should be added. Also one final note is Ganache should be slightly warm for easment of the pour and should start the pour in the center of the cake and then as it cascades over the side use a spatula to smooth, the top should be smooth, in your picture it does not look smooth it looks like it cooled to much and it was spread like regular frosting but a Ding Dong is smooth.