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!
- If you love those cute snack cakes from the grocery store, then these are going to tempt your taste buds! Homemade Little Debbie Snack Cakes
- 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!
Does this cake require to be refrigerated? Since it has the cream filled center.
Thank you!
I am wondering the same thing
Doesn’t get any better than this!
This is a really good cake! I’ve made devil dogs for years so was familiar with the issue some had with the filling. I made this into a 8 inch cake so that I could make a little 4 inch one with the extra batter for my husband. We liked the cake just set but have to say that after being in refrig for 4 hours, it slices easier and has even better taste and texture! The 8 inch is for tomorrow..Mother’s Day!
What a delicious cake! I followed your recipe and every bite was a taste of heaven lol. Everyone loved it. The filling was a little intimidating at first but it came together perfectly and was just like your description. The filling paired with the cake and then the ganache was like…total yum hehe. Served with ice cream. Boom! Love your recipes. Thanks so much. Second time making.
Aimee ,I am so glad to see someone eager to share recipes and loves to cook like I do , I am old school and 74 and I most of the time don’t measure, but I love trying new recipes and yours looks so gooood, Can’t wait to cook and looking forward to a lot more, I cook for about 25 to 30 people at my church every week and that’s just on Wednesday night for the children and on Sunday I fix a dessert for our evening service,,,so I stay busy ,so I’m always looking for new recipes , Thank you
So glad you are here!
Can you make cupcakes using this recipe
First off, the cake itself is very good and the ganache is straightforward. I’m going to look for a different recipe for filling however because I had my mixer on for twenty minutes and it never came together. Luckily it held the second layer on the cake, and it did taste good, but appearance wise it’s terrible and was even slightly separating in the cake. Thankfully this was just for home and I wasn’t planning on taking it to an event. If this is supposed to whip for a half hour or something that needs to be said in the instructions vs “just keep going.” It shouldn’t be that complicated for such a simple filling.
This cake was delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe. The filling was amazing
Has anyone tried freezing this cake?
Delicious! There are many steps than a lot of other homemade cakes, but this cake is worth it! I don’t like calling it a ding dong cake because this cake is so much better! But, I understand why because it definitely looks like ding dongs. This cake is worth making! Delicious !!!
Made this today for my granddaughter’s birthday. It is so good and a very rich cake. I had to use a devil’s food cake mix due to time constraints. The filling was very rich and fluffy. The ganuche was super easy. I slightly heated the cream until just before boiling… be careful! Then poured the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let it sit 2 or 3 minutes before stirring. Once I started stirring, the chips melted right away and became very creamy. I had read to pour the ganuche in layers over the cake and that worked very well. Overall I would rate it as a great cake to make. I found all the helpful hints good & would highly recommend reading thru them. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Glad you enjoyed the cake.
Made it today. Looks beautiful, but tastes flat. I would not use semi-sweet chocolate chips next time. I would use milk chocolate. And a bite of just the cake without the filling or frosting is very bland. If I ever make it again I will just use a boxed mix like swiss chocolate.
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong with the filling put it seems that I can’t get it right
01/15/23 I just made this & everyone loved it.
My only critique is that a pie dish or something deep to catch all the ganache will work much better.
Hi Aimee, what is dark chocolate cocoa powder? Is it Dutch processed coca or regular chocolate coca powder?
You can use regular, unsweetened cocoa powder if you can’t find the dark chocolate version.
I have not tasted the Ding Dong Cake yet, but due to the frustration that the recipe instructions creates, I will not make it again. It is not worth it. I definitely followed the recipe to the letter. The cakes did not come out of the pans doing as instructed, the ganache looks like it may not even set as done per the instructions. This recipe needs improvements. I don’t think I have ever left a review before on cooking site, but I had to with this.
Would you recommend baking the cake on a sheet pan and spread the filling on top and roll it? Instead of 2 cake layers?
With chocolate ganache it depends on the ratio of chocolate to cream you are using. The more cream you add, the more glaze like it is, the less cream will be a thicker consistency. If you google “sugargeekshow.com” chocolate ganache, Liz has all the ratios broken down for us. It is different from the types of chocolate, milk, dark, white. Also adding a pinch of salt and a pat of butter makes this so delicious! Hope that helps.
Does this cake have to be refrigerated? If not, how many days would it be good in an airtight container?
I made this a couple of months ago and just wanted you to know how much I appreciate this recipe. This cake is the best, better than a box. I had no problems with the cream filling or the granache. The only thing I did wrong was not cutting the cake to make even before I layered so when I put the second cake on top it leaned a little. Still very delicious. I need to make some cupcakes for a party and am going to use this cake recipe
Thank you for letting me know. ENJOY!
Can this cake be put in freeze once it’s cooled . I have to take it with me to a birthday party and it’s a long drive in summer heart.
Thanks