The most delicious Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Cake is here! If you’re a huge cereal fan, and especially any kind of chocolate/cocoa/puffs cereal, this cake is especially for you.

Cereal obsession

I know, I know. We JUST did a Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Cookie, but it was at that moment when I knew I needed to make this classic childhood Saturday-morning-cartoon cereal into a cake. I’ve also made a few other treats recently inspired by cereal (see Fruity Pebbles Cereal Cookies & Cake!). With a few more ideas tucked up my sleeve, I know we’re sure to see more cereal-inspired cakes and cookies here on Baking with Blondie, as well as future cookbooks (hint, hint!).

So with an extra box of cocoa pebbles cereal in my pantry after making my Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Cookies, this cake came together pretty quickly with those flavors still in mind. I mean, how could I NOT make a cocoa pebbles cake?

Cereal Soak

For the cake, instead of using my typical dark chocolate recipe, I went for more of a lighter chocolate fix (devils food cake mix). It worked beautifully!

Without adding some kind of cocoa pebbles cereal element into the cake, though, it would just be a chocolate cake. I wanted a COCOA PEBBLES chocolate cake. But how?

I borrowed a beautiful technique coined by the one and only Milkbar, where Christina Tosi “soaks” the liquid ingredients with cereal before using them in her recipes. You know how at the end of eating your bowl of cereal, the leftover milk is deliciously sweet and has alllll the cereal flavor in it? It’s just like that. Soak the cereal in your buttercream for my recipe, and you have the same idea.

For my cakes, you need to bring your refrigerated ingredients to room temperature anyway, so may as way soak that buttermilk in cocoa pebbles and get even MORE cocoa pebbles flavors into your cake. For an added flavor bonus, I tossed in a few cocoa pebbles cereal pieces right into the batter.

loaded buttercream

I knew when creating this buttercream for my cake that I wanted it to echo my Fruity Pebbles Cake’s buttercream technique. I love the look of the little flecks of cereal in the buttercream. To achieve this look, I used the cereal in two ways (you could do three ways if you choose to add an extra step by soaking the cereal in the heavy cream before adding it into your buttercream).

Using both crushed and whole pieces in the buttercream gives a little something extra to not only taste, but experience texture-wise. The larger pieces retain a little bit of their crunch (depending on how quickly you eat this cake after making it, that is).

However, it does create a bit of a problem when smoothing out the cake if you’re not careful. The pieces LOVE to drag if you’re pressing down too hard with your cake scraper. So make sure to have a light touch, and remove any pieces that are driving you nuts if you have to.

Lastly, I pressed on lots of cereal around the outside. These stay crunchy for the most part. But you know what happens when cereal gets any kind of moisture on it… so I can’t make any promises for long-term cake making crunchiness.

If you don’t have any cocoa pebbles in your area, try using cocoa puffs, or any kind of cocoa-chocolate cereal in it’s place.

I love how this cake turned out! So tender and sweet – and my boys were so happy to be the first taste-testers (along with many friends from the neighborhood!).

As always, I can’t wait to see what you bake! Make sure to tag @bakingwithblondie on Instagram so I can join in on all the fun.

Happy Baking!

xo,

Mandy

Get the Recipe: Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Cake

Thick Cocoa Pebbles Chocolate Cake Layers frosted in Cocoa Pebbles Buttercream and covered in all the Cocoa Pebbles Cereal!
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Ingredients
 

Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Cake

  • 1 cup buttermilk , room temperature
  • 1 cup cocoa pebbles cereal, divided
  • 2/3 cup sour cream, room temperature
  • 3 whole large eggs , room temperature
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 15.25oz (or similar) Devils Food Cake Box Mix , I prefer Duncan Hines, but any other brand will be similar

Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Buttercream

  • 1 1/2 cups (or three sticks) unsalted butter, Left out at room temperature for 10 minutes
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup crushed cocoa pebbles cereal powder , Start with 1- 1 1/2 CUP in the food processor, pulse to a powder, then measure out 1/2 cup.
  • 1 cup cocoa pebbles cereal (whole)
  • 7 cups powdered sugar

Extras

  • 4 cups cocoa pebbles cereal

Instructions
 

For the Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Cake Layers

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees convection bake (if you're using convention bake ovens, you'll need to bake your cakes a little longer is all). Prep three 6" cake rounds with a swipe of shortening and dust of flour to prevent sticking. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, stir together the buttermilk and 1/2 cup of the cocoa pebbles cereal for about 20 minutes (this is great to do while waiting for the buttermilk to come to room temperature before baking anyway).
  • In a large bowl, hand-whisk together the buttermilk-cereal-soak-mixture, sour cream, eggs, oil, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Toss in the other 1/2 cup of the cocoa pebbles cereal, and then sift in the devils food cake mix. Gently stir until just combined.
  • Split the cake batter between prepared cake rounds and bake for 25-27 minutes. After cooling in the pan for less than a minute, flip out the cake rounds onto a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap up with plastic wrap and freeze until you're ready to assemble. It's much easier to assemble with chilled or partially frozen cake layers.

For the Cocoa Pebbles Cereal Buttercream

  • In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it's light and fluffy. Add in the salt, vanilla, and heavy cream. Whip up again and then scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
  • Add in the cocoa pebbles cereal powder and the whole cocoa pebbles. If you're planning on piping with this buttercream (I didn't for this particular cake), you'll need all the cocoa pebbles cereal to be a powder so that the buttercream can fit through the piping tip. If not, follow the recipe here as instructed.
  • Slowly add in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and on low mixer speed. Add in a touch more heavy cream if needed, then flip the mixer on the highest speed. Let the buttercream whip up for about 2 minutes until it's lighter and fluffier in texture and color.

Assembly

  • Tape a 6" cardboard cake round to an 8" one and place them on a cake turntable.
  • Add on a little bit of buttercream in the center of the cardboard round, then spread it out slightly with an angled icing spatula. Place down the first cake layer. Spread on about 1 cup of buttercream, then add on the next cake layer. Repeat.
  • Crumb coat the cake, then freeze for about 3 minutes to set.
  • With a straight icing spatula, spread on a thick layer of buttercream on the outside and top of the cake; smoothing it out with a straight cake scraper for smooth sides. Tip: This buttercream has little pieces of cocoa cereal throughout, so a gentle touch is needed to make them flush with the side of the cake. If you notice the pieces dragging and creating indents along the side of the cake, either remove the pesky piece, or use a more gentle touch when going around the cake. Leave the top unfinished for a more rustic look.
  • Next, place the cake onto a cookie sheet, and hand-press on the cocoa pebbles cereal onto the sides of the cake and on top.