I LOVE making ice cream flavors into cake flavors. My new Moose Tracks Cake here is no exception! With marbled cake layers studded with chopped peanut butter cups, marbled buttercream, drippy chocolate ganache, and mini cones on top, you’ll feel like you’re eating the actual ice cream flavor with each bite!

Cake fail to cake favorite

As I shared in my Instagram post here, I thought that I had ruined this cake! There was a really cool swirl technique that I wanted to try, and halfway through, I thought I had made a major cake fail. It was NOT working and I didn’t know why.

Well, it turns out I should have taken my own advice to “trust the process.” You see, to make this gorgeous marbled buttercream look, you need to pipe on the buttercream in a diagonal, almost messy, way. I piped the buttercream, froze it to keep the swirl pattern, then when I started scraping, I panicked! Instead of stopping, I just needed to keep scraping. The “ice cream marbled ripples” started to come through. It was happening! Just keep swimming, I mean, scraping! 🙂

I fell in love with how it looked, and am so happy I didn’t walk away altogether or start over.

ingredients for the marbled Moose Tracks cake

For the moose tracks cake, I knew I needed a marbled cake (vanilla bean cake with marbled chocolate right into the cake batter), and then pieces of peanut butter cups all throughout.

I started with my white cake base, then reserved some of the cake batter to change it to chocolate by adding in cocoa power and buttermilk.

For the marbled cake, you’ll need:

  • Buttermilk
  • Sour cream
  • egg whites
  • vanilla bean paste
  • cocoa powder
  • white cake mix

It all comes together without a stand mixer – so just use your whisk and mixing bowl for this one! Easy peasy.

Swirled buttercream

The buttercream swirl is actually pretty easy to prep for! Just make a batch of my vanilla bean buttercream. Just like my cake batter, we’re going to add a bit of cocoa powder to a little of it to change it to cocoa buttercream. To get the “Swirl”, just add in a little of the chocolate, then a little bit of the vanilla to a large piping bag (alternating). When you pipe the buttercream, there should be strips of chocolate along with the vanilla.

Tiny cones

I originally was going to add on one giant ice cream cone – and you certainly could, too! But I thought the tiny ones will be more fun. To make them, all I did was gently “Saw” off the ends of sugar cones to make tiny ones. Make sure to save the little crumbled pieces of the rest of the ice cream cones! You’ll need those to sprinkle on top for decoration.

I cannot wait for you to try this fun cake! It tastes just like moose tracks ice cream, and looks pretty darn close to the real, thing, too!

HERE’S a helpful video of the cake decorating process for my Moose Tracks Cake.

I’d love to see your Baking with Blondie creation. Make sure to tag me, @bakingwithblondie or #bakingwithblondie on Instagram so I can join in on all the fun. 🙂

Happy Baking!

xo,

Mandy

Get the Recipe: Moose Tracks Cake

Swirled vanilla bean & chocolate cake with peanut butter cups, marbled buttercream, chocolate ganache drip, and mini ice cream cones.
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Ingredients
 

Moose Tracks Cake

  • 3/4 cup + 3 Tablespoons buttermilk, separated, room temperature
  • 4 egg whites , room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1 15.25oz white cake mix, I prefer Duncan Hines for the best taste and texture, but any similar brand would be similar.
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped mini Reeses peanut butter cups

Marbled Buttercream

  • 1 1/2 cups (or three sticks) unsalted butter, left out at room temp for 10 minutes
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 Tablespoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons heavy cream, divided
  • 7-8 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Ganache Drip

  • 1 cup chocolate candy melts
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Extras

  • 8 sugar cones, sliced to be smaller
  • 1/2 cup chopped reeses cups
  • 1/2 cup chopped sugar cone pieces (USE FROM the chopped sugar cones above)

Instructions
 

For the Moose Tracks Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees convection bake (if using traditional bake, just leave the cakes in the oven about 3-5 minutes longer). Prep three 6" cake rounds with a swipe of shortening and dust of flour. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the 3/4 cup buttermilk, egg whites, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla bean paste until combined. Sift in the cake mix, then gently stir to combine. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cake batter and add it to a small bowl with the cocoa and 2 Tablespoons of buttermilk. Stir until the cocoa has been thoroughly combined, then add to a piping bag.
  • Split the white cake batter evenly between the three prepared cake pans. Using the piping bag with the cocoa cake, squeeze a squiggle of the cocoa cake on top, then use a knife to gently swirl it in. Repeat with the remaining cocoa cake in the piping bag until all of it has been gently swirled in. Toss in a few of the chopped reeses and press them into the cake batter before baking.
    Bake for 25-27 minutes until the centers have finished baking, flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely, then wrap up in plastic wrap to freeze until assembly.

For the Marbled Buttercream

  • In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it's light and fluffy. Add in the salt, vanilla bean paste, and 1/4 cup heavy cream, mix to combine. Add in the powdered sugar on low speed until it's full incorporated.
    Flip the mixer onto the highest speed for about 2 minutes to add volume and a lighter texture to the buttercream. Reserve 1 cup of the buttercream in a separate bowl. Hand-stir in the cocoa and remaining buttermilk.

For the Chocolate Ganache

  • In a medium bowl, pour the heavy cream over the chocolate melts and microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Microwave an additional 15 seconds and stir again. Repeat if needed to fully melt the chocolate. Stir until smooth, then add to a squeeze piping bottle.

Assembly

  • Prep the marbled buttercream by adding both the cocoa and vanilla buttercream together into a large piping bag (with no piping tip). I added a little of each (alternating) so that there was kind of a messy swirl to work with.
  • Using a cake turntable, spread on a little buttercream in the center of a 6" cardboard round taped to an 8" one. Place down the first cake layer, then pipe on a layer of buttercream. Press on a few of the chopped reeses cups, then place on the next cake layer. Repeat.
    Crumb coat the cake by applying a small layer of buttercream around the whole cake. Smooth out the buttercream with a cake scraper, then freeze to set.
  • For the marbled look, pipe the buttercream (still no piping tip) onto the cake in a diagonal pattern. Freeze for 5 minute, then use a cake scraper to smooth it out.
    NOTE: It will look crazy for a while, but keep smoothing, and add on buttercream as needed to fill in any spaces. Press firmly with your cake scraper, and just like stripes, the swirls will start to show in a more polished way as you scrape. Heat up the cake scraper with hot water if needed. Place the cake into the freezer for about 5 minutes to set.
  • Add on the ganache drip, using a squeeze bottle and angled icing spatula. Place back into the freezer to set the drips.
  • Add a 1A circle piping tip into a piping bag and pipe 8 small circle dollops around the outside rim of the cake. Place a small cone on each of the circle dollops, then add a few of the chopped reeses and crumbled sugar cones pieces around the top of the cake.