This Copycat Hostess Ding Dong Cake recipe is a rich, decadent chocolate cake, with a creamy filling and chocolate ganache spread over the top! So easy, you’ll love it!
Remember Hostess Suzy Q’s? These Chocolate Whoopie Pies remind me of that classic treat! Or try our easy homemade hostess cupcakes next!
Why Make a Ding Dong Cake
Growing up my mom would buy us Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies and Hostess snacks for our lunch boxes. We never knew what she would come home with, but I always got a little giddy when a box of Ding Dongs were in the cabinet.
Two layers or chocolate cake with a cream filling, all coated in chocolate ganache.
Look familiar? Today’s Ding Dong Cake is just that, only….bigger!
How to Make a Ding Dong Cake
Bake the Cakes. Start by baking up two 9-inch chocolate cakes. I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe for this, so fudgy and perfect. If you choose to go with a boxed mix, make sure it’s a rich and fudgy version, like a Devil’s Food cake.
Cream Filling. Next you’ll make the cream filling. It’s a less sweet buttercream frosting, sometimes called Ermine frosting. A friend at our old church called it boiled milk frosting. But I think that sounds gross, so let’s call it cream filling.
You’ll first put your cold milk and flour in a small saucepan and whisk until the lumps are gone. Heat this up until thick, stirring the whole time. You want to keep stirring and heating until it becomes thick, almost like pudding. Be patient.
Once your milk mixture is thick, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. COOL. Very important here. You don’t want this warm and melting your butter in the next step.
In a mixing bowl, cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Slowly add in the COOLED milk mixture, beating until it resembles a thick whipped cream or frosting. Don’t be scared if it initially appears curdled, keep beating!
Assemble. Spread this thick layer of cream filling between your two cooled chocolate cake layers.
Cover in Ganache. Whip up some chocolate ganache (follow recipe instructions below) and pour it over the top and sides. Allow it set, and enjoy.
More Copycat Recipes
- Decadent and delicious, these Copycat Hostess Cupcakes are better than the original! Fudgy with a cream filling, just like the original!
- These Flourless Chocolate Cookies are a chewy cookie with a crunchy topping! You’ll love the rich chocolate flavor in a unique cookie! Move over Starbucks, we’ve got a copycat recipe on our hands!
- Making Homemade Cracker Jack popcorn is super easy and delicious! Sweet and crunchy, this addictive caramel corn is better than the original!
- The BEST Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake recipe starts with two layers of homemade red velvet cake with a layer of cheesecake in the middle. Topped with delicious cream cheese frosting and white chocolate curls!
- Delicious, easy, copycat Twinkie Cake recipe made with yellow cake and sweet whipped cream filling. The perfect, not overly sweet, cake recipe!
Easy Cake Recipes
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Ding Dong Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup strong brewed coffee cooled
- ½ cup milk
For the cream filling:
- 5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
For the ganache:
- 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels 12 ounce
- 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
For the cake:
- Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine cooled coffee with milk*. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for 5 minutes with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Slowly add in dry ingredients and alternate with the coffee/milk mixture (about 3 additions of each).
- Once all the ingredients are added, beat cake mixture for about 2-3 minutes until fluffy (scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed).
- Divide cake batter into the two cake pans. Bake in oven for 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool about 10 minutes in pan. Invert on a wire rack and cool completely.
For the cream filling:
- In a small saucepan, combine the flour with milk, whisking until lumps removed. Turn on medium heat and continue to whisk until mixture becomes thick, like a pudding.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool completely.
- In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar, beat until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes). Slowly add in the COOLED milk mixture, beating until combined. It may curdle slightly in the beginning, that’s okay, keep beating until it becomes the texture of whipped cream!
For the ganache:
- In a glass bowl (safe for the microwave) combine semi sweet chocolate with heavy cream. Heat for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir until smooth (you may need to heat for another 15-30 seconds). Do not over heat. Set aside while you begin to assemble the cake.
To assemble:
- Place first layer of cooled cake on a cake plate. Top it with ALL of the cream filling. Add the second layer of cake on top.
- Slowly pour the ganache over the cake, using an offset spatula to help cover the top and sides. Allow to set, about 15 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- The coffee in the cake does NOT give it a coffee flavor, it just boosts the chocolate flavor. If you desire, you can replace the 1/2 cup of coffee with an additional 1/2 cup of milk instead (making the total amount 1 cup of milk)
- Freeze Cake. Wrap slices of cake in plastic wrap and slide into freezer safe ziploc bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator and serve.
Video
Nutrition
This Copycat Hostess Ding Dong Cake recipe is a rich, decadent chocolate cake, with a creamy filling and chocolate ganache spread over the top!
Hi,
I made this as a birthday cake for a friend. This was a huge it and I would recommend this recipe and have already shared it with family.
So happy to hear it 🙂
Made this cake…turned out nice …i am still left with the cream filling…how long can i freeze it and use it again…as dont have any plans to bake for sometime now..
Darn, tried to rate this but somehow I deleted a star! It should be a 5 star review!!! Easy to prepare and oh so good!
The directions on this cake make it so easy to make! I love to prepare it! Everyone will love the cake! I have frozen the entire cake and it does fine!
Made cake as recipe described. The cake was really sweet and ganache was thin. My husband and I did not like cake.
Hi.. How long in advance can I make this.. and does it need to be refrigerated while waiting to be eaten? Huge party this weekend and would love to add this..
This cake looks totally fabulous!!!
The name of this intrigued me, we don’t have anything called ding dongs here in Australia so I didn’t realise it was a lunchbox treat.
So I just had to try this cake……it was amazing, the cream filling!!!!! Well I could have eaten that with a spoon! {I may have done that a little 😉 }
A keeper!!!
Just a couple of things… I continued to mix the cream filling as stated but it still looked a little curdled but tastes fine. I chilled the cream filling until slightly firm and used a pastry bag to apply to the cake. Also, on my first attempt I merely sprayed the cake pans like recommended but the cake stuck to the pans horribly. Second attempt I used a flour and cocoa mixture to “flour” the pans after spraying and the cakes came out fine. Using parchment paper would probably work too. It is also best not to put the chocolate chips in the microwave but instead merely heat the cream and pour over the chocolate. My chocolate chips did NOT like being microwaved even for the initial one minute. This cake has a VERY deep/dark chocolate taste. A lady at my office begged me to make this cake for her after seeing this recipe on facebook… so I hope it is well received!
Hi there. We do not drink coffee, so I’m not able to use that ingredient…do you have any suggestions for what I can substitute?
Hi Aimee
I was very intrigued by this cake, especially the filling. I made it this weekend and was absolutely amazed at how delicious this cake is!
The chocolate sponge is soft, airy and moist, the filling has the right amount of sweetness and the combination of the two is perfect. The ganache icing/topping works really well with the cake too.
My advice is don’t hesitate. Make this cake; you’ll be glad you did!
Thank you David, so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I wantbto use thie cake recipe for cupcakes. What would be tge bake time?
Generally cupcakes bake for 18 minutes @350°. Hope this helps
This looks over the top good! I used to eat so many Ding Dongs as a kid…wow, this looks 1000x better!
Thanks Averie, hope you’re doing well 🙂
I think i just drooled on my phone!!! Thanks. This is 1st on my list for this weekend. Yummy.
Thank you!