Chocolate Overload Piñata Cake Recipe

Chocolate overload alert! I hope you guys are ready for this…

I don’t even know if I’m ready for all of this chocolate, but it’s happening! Also, I just took the photos so it’s still on the counter in my kitchen. I just can’t throw it away because it’s so pretty! But I literally can’t eat another bite!

If you’re looking for the most over the top, chocolatey cake recipe in the whole world, you’ve found it. The best part is that NO BAKING is required. You didn’t misread that! You don’t need to turn on the oven and there’s no measuring involved. So you literally can’t mess it up!

If you’re not much of a baker, this is the perfect recipe for you because you can turn store bought cakes into a beautiful masterpiece!

I Give You… the Chocolate Overload Piñata Cake

Remember when I showed you guys how to upgrade a store bought cake with sprinkles and cool whip? I love that easy recipe for a quick & fun cake that will totally impress your friends and family.

So much that I decided to take my cake makeover skills to the next level! This chocolate layer cake uses store bought chocolate cake, recycles the filling and frosting and is topped with candy. The best part of the cake is definitely the hidden candy inside!

It’s called a piñata cake because when you cut it open, little pieces of candy, M&Ms in our case, fall out!

SURPISE CHOCOLATE!!!! I mean, all chocolate is good chocolate. But surprise chocolate is the best kind!

I made this celebratory cake for a few reasons:

irst, it was Tony’s birthday and I wanted to bake him an out of this world dessert. And birthday parties are the perfect excuse for a piñata! I also wanted to incorporate all of Tony’s favorite candies into one dessert… so topping a cake with them sounded like the perfect excuse!

Piñata cakes are great for any occasion though. You can put any type of candy inside of them (as long as they’re small), in any color combination. I’ve seen a ton of people use piñata cakes for gender reveal parties. Putting pink or blue candies inside, so that when you cut the cake, you find out whether you’re having a boy or a girl!

They’re so much fun that you don’t need a special occasion to make one! You could even put sprinkles or little toys inside depending on the theme of the party or whoever you’ve invited over to celebrate with you.

Rather than bake the cakes myself and make homemade frosting, I thought it would be fun to show you how you can make a piñata cake at the last minute with all store bought ingredients. That means you don’t need any fancy bakeware, tools or even an oven! You could even make one of these cakes in a dorm room! I know that not everyone who follows along feels super comfortable in the kitchen, so this is a great way to make an impressive (and tasty) cake that will wow your guests!

How To Make A Chocolate Overload Piñata Cake

If you want to make your your own cake and frosting from scratch, go for it! I just recommend baking the cake at least an hour before you assemble it so that it’s cooled and ready to frost.

I also recommend getting all of your supplies & workspace ready to go before jumping in. It will make it a lot easier and keep the mess confined.

Because this “recipe” uses store bought cake and store bought frosting (with a few additional ingredients), it’s SO EASY to make. For real, all you have to do is cut a few holes, fill it with candies & frost it!

Best Piñata Cake Fillings

I used regular M&Ms to fill my cake. Since I went with an overall chocolate theme, I felt like it made the most sense. I also like that the color was pretty much all “chocolate” colored until you cut it open and then had a colorful, rainbow surprise.

Whatever you choose, just make sure that it’s small enough to fit in the hole. The smaller the pieces, the more dramatic it will look when you cut the cake.

Other fun piñata cake filling ideas:

• dark chocolate chips
• white chocolate chips
• Mini Oreos
• colorful sprinkles
• edible glitter
• Skittles
• nonpareils
• conversation hearts
• gummy worms
• candy corn
• jelly beans
• chocolate gold coins
• Reese’s Pieces
• Nerd’s

Chocolate Overload Piñata Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 round, store bought chocolate cakes. If possible, find ones that don’t have colorful decorations. It’s also easier to work with them if they’re single layer cakes and don’t already have fillings.
• 1-2 containers of chocolate frosting
• 1-2 containers of whipped topping. I use 1 small container per container of chocolate frosting. If you want to make extra, use a 2 containers of chocolate frosting and double the amount of whipped topping.
• M&Ms for filling the cake
• Chocolates for topping the cake. I used Reese’s KitKats, chocolate chips, Hershey’s Cookies N’ Creme bars, Rolo’s, Twix & chocolate sprinkles.

What You Need

• Cake stand or large plate
• Small cup (this is what you’ll use to cut the hole out)
• Large knife
• Spatula or icing knife
• KitchenAid stand mixer or large mixing bowl

Step One

The first thing you need to do is open your store bought cakes and remove the frosting.

I like using an icing knife to do this, but any knife will work. Just be careful not to break the cake.

Save the frosting you remove in a large bowl or your KitchenAid mixing bowl.

Step Two

In your stand mixer or mixing bowl, you should have a decent amount of frosting from the three cakes. I recommend adding 1 container of chocolate frosting and 1 container of whipped topping (aka Cool Whip or the generic version your grocery store sells). I had just enough frosting for the entire cake. If you’re worried about having enough or want to add more frosting, double the amount of frosting & whipped topping. Adding whipped topping to store bought frosting will make it taste a million times better. It makes it taste a lot creamier and fluffier.

Step Three

After all of the frosting is removed, use a small glass to remove a hole in the center of the cake. I just used a small water glass. You should be able to just push the cup through the cake and it will kind of suction the piece out. If not, you can use a knife to cut around the cup to make your hole.

Repeat this process with all 3 of the cakes. I removed the centers from all 3 cakes and then saved one of the rounds to fill in the top.

Step Four

Place one of the layers (that has a hole removed) on your cake stand or plate. Then, add a layer of about 1/4″ of frosting to the top. Again, I think it’s easiest to use icing knives because they’re kind of like a cross between a knife and a spatula. But you can use whatever you want or have handy.

Then, place the next layer on top (one with a hole cut out). Repeat the process and until all three layers are on.

Step Five

Yay! You get to fill your cake! Gently pour in whatever candy you chose to fill your cake with. Leaving about 1/2 room at the top for the missing round of cake.

Step Six

Put the missing round on top of the cake to fill the hole. Gently push down on it to make it even with the top layer of the cake. If it’s a little off, don’t worry. You can even out the appearance of the cake with frosting.

Step Seven

Frost the cake!! Take your frosting and spread an even layer over the top and side.

Step Eight

Finally, grab candy you want to decorate your cake with! You can use absolutely anything you, your family, your friends, and piñata cake eaters like! The more chocolate the better!

Serving Your Piñata Cake

To serve your piñata cake, just slice right in! When you cut the first piece, the candy you stuffed inside will fall out. You can cut it just like you would any other cake, then use a spoon to scoop up the goodies that fell out!