Peanut Butter Dong Dong Cake is a variation of my favorite childhood treat, the ding dong, with rich chocolate cake, creamy peanut butter filling, and chocolate ganache on the outside. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, this is the cake for you! If you prefer this dessert without the peanut butter, be sure to try my Ding Dong Cake!
Peanut Butter Ding Dong Cake
What is a Ding Dong? It is a treat that we were often given as kids. It is basically a chocolate whoopie pie with a glorious cream filling. I recently saw a Peanut Butter Ding Dong in the grocery store and knew I needed to make it into a cake! This cake is one of those cakes where the ingredients work together perfectly to create a cake you will never forget. I also have an impressive Ding Dong Sheet Cake you will love!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Chocolate Cake: The recipe for the chocolate cake is my Perfect Chocolate Cake. The batter is very runny and it is designed to be made in two 8-inch by 3-inch round cake pans. You could also use a boxed chocolate cake mix.
Coffee: Brewed coffee enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake without a coffee taste. However, you could use hot water if you don’t have coffee on hand.
Peanut Butter Filling: The filling is a peanut butter mousse and it is not only delicious in this cake, but also on its own! I do not recommend using chunky peanut butter or all-natural peanut butter in this recipe. The chunky just doesn’t work in a smooth creamy filling and the all-natural peanut butter is a bit too oily for this recipe. But if you want to get some texture feel free to add chopped peanuts to the top!
Ganache: I used semisweet chocolate for the ganache, but you could also use milk chocolate. I also have a Ganache Made With Butter if preferred.
Can I Use A Different Pan?
You could make this dessert in a 9×13-inch pan, but in that case, I would assemble it a bit differently. First, prepare the cake and let it cool. Then, make the peanut butter filling (mousse) and spread it over the cooled cake, chilling until firm. Finally, prepare the ganache, let it cool, and pour over the chilled cake.
How To Store Peanut Butter Ding Dong Cake
To maintain the cake’s freshness and prevent air exposure, it should be stored in an airtight container. Doing so will help the cake stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. For optimal flavor and texture, it’s recommended to allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving.
More Chocolate Cakes
Peanut Butter Ding Dong Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 ¾ cups (219 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (90 g) regular unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (240 g) buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup (112 g) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons McCormick pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (237 g) freshly brewed hot coffee
Peanut Butter Filling
- ½ cup (119 g) heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup (129 g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (60 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Ganache
- 16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 cups heavy cream, room temperature
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 2, 8-inch x 3-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. (8-inch cake pans with shorter sides may cause an overflow in your oven.) Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and mix just to combine, stopping to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out mostly clean with no wet batter.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 30 minutes. Then, turn them out onto a cooling rack to let them cool completely.
Peanut Butter Filling
- Pour the cream into a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Scoop the whipped cream into a small bowl and place it in the refrigerator.
- To a medium bowl, add the cream cheese, peanut butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add confectioners' sugar and beat again for another minute.
- Pour in the milk and beat until smooth, about 20-30 seconds.
- Fold the chilled whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture and stir until combined.
Ganache
- Place the chocolate chips into a heat-safe bowl. Set the bowl aside as you heat up the cream.
- To a quart-sized, microwave-safe container, add heavy cream. Microwave for 3-4 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 the chilled cake, whisk the ganache until smooth and then pour. You may have some ganache left over.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
You had me at Peanut Butter but throwing in the Ding Dong…. well I just love ya more!
This is called the perfect combination. Chocolate with peanut butter.Healthy cake with the good taste. Just loved it.
Dear Amanda,
Pleasure to know your blog. My name is Mira. I made this Peanut Butter Ding Dong Cake, I used buttermilk, just realize when seeing the video it mentioned add in/use heavy cream for cake batter, in recipe said buttermilk. I’m wondering which one the correct one?
Thank you for sharing the recipes.
I just made this cake for the first time and
found the batter rather watery. Is that normal? In the oven now…fingers crossed!
Can you share eggless cakes recipe.
That cake is so delicious!! However, in Austria we use quite less sugar 😉
we love the peanut butter filling!
I made this over the weekend and it was the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made and I thought the recipe I used for years was the best. I never made ganache before either and I was surprised how easy it was and how good it was. I’ll make this many more times, everyone ate two pieces
The video shows heavy cream instead of buttermilk, is that a mistake or buttermilk can be substituted with heavy cream?
I have all your recipes I find that they’re so easy to understand
Somewhat random question for you!! I made the original Ding Dong cake this past weekend and it was simply amazing. I love the boiled buttercream and have been using it on cakes for years. I checked out this recipe hoping it would include a recipe for a peanut butter boiled buttercream. Have you tried it? I haven’t been able to locate a recipe, so maybe it doesn’t work…