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.
Is there anything I can substitute the cream cheese with? I’m not a cream cheese fan but I want to try this so badly. Any recommendations? Thanks!
I cannot wait to try this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing your talents with us! I am also trying the lemon bars for tomorrow as well. I’m sure it will be a huge hit!! Woot woot!!!
Hi could I replace the coffee with hot chocolate?
This is delicious. Made it for my son’s birthday last year. Both kids requested it this year!
I haven’t made this yet but intend to very soon! I’ll have to give it away because I know there is NO WAY I’ll be able to stay out of it! Looks absolutely amazing!Thanks for sharing!❤
I am Baker too😂
Michele(Baker)Crysel
I made this for my husband’s birthday and everyone loved it. I’m just getting into baking and this was my first layer cake that I made from scratch. It was so delicious! The ganache came out great, but my only little complaint is that it didn’t look as glossy or have that “mirror-glaze” on the cake as yours does in the photos. I’m not sure why. I let it cool on the counter for an hour or two before whisking again to apply on the cake. Any thoughts or words of advice?
This was an absolutely AMAZING recipe! Absolutely loved it. My only note is that I didn’t prepare my cake pans well enough, and the cake stuck to the pans. That’s my error, but I’d suggest really prepping the pans thoroughly to ensure it doesn’t stick. My ganache was smooth, shiny and silky, and the peanut mousse and cake were incredibly. It was a HUGE hit, and it will become a favorite cake in my repetoire from now on!
I love your recepies, i did this cake AND Is delicioso , but the cake came down , im from México City? What can I do ? Thank you
Love the flavor, imposible no too eat a little pice,but o love un México City AND all the Time the cake fell down un the oven,can you tell me why?
On the video said heavy cream AND the recepie said buttermilk?? I did with buttermilk AND the cake fell down
So sorry! The written recipe is correct.