Sunflower Surprise Cake!
Perfect for any get-together, this happy Bundt cake is filled with chocolate candies that spill out when it’s cut open, for extra fun!
CAKE 1 cup mini chocolate chips
2 Tbs. + 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. golden yellow concentrated food coloring
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar 6 eggs
2 Tbs. vanilla extract
FROSTING 2 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature 5 cups confectioners’ sugar, from 2 (16 oz.) pkgs.
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. golden yellow concentrated food coloring
1/4 tsp. leaf green concentrated food coloring
2 cups brown M&M’S
Orange decorating sugar
Black edible color food marker
Red Spree candies
M&M’S Minis
● Cake: Generously butter and flour 12-cup Bundt pan (do not use cooking or baking spray).
● Combine mini chips and 2 Tbs. flour, as shown; reserve. Combine remaining flour with salt and baking powder. Stir food coloring into halfand-half. On medium speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, 2 minutes. On low, beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Alternately beat in flour and half-and-half. Stir in reserved mini chips mixture. Transfer to pan.
● Place pan in cold oven. Turn oven on to 300°F. Bake 1 hour, 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on rack 30 minutes. Transfer from pan to rack. Cool completely. ● Frosting: On medium speed, beat butter until fluffy, 2 minutes. On low, gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar, then vanilla until blended; on medium-high, beat until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Transfer half of frosting to separate bowl. Stir golden yellow food coloring into one bowl of frosting; stir leaf green coloring into remaining frosting. Reserve 1/2 tsp. yellow frosting. Transfer remaining yellow frosting to pastry bag fitted with large star tip (such as Wilton #1B)
● Place cake on serving plate; fill center hole with about two-thirds of M&M’S. Spread green frosting over outside of cake. Starting at outer edge of rounded top, using yellow frosting, pipe row of flower petals all around cake. One at a time, pipe 2 more rows of petals, as shown, leaving about 3" opening in center. Fill center with remaining M&M’S, spreading them out on top to about 3 3/4" wide.
● Sprinkle orange sugar over petals around edge of M&M’S, as shown.
● Ladybugs: Using food marker, draw wing lines and dots on Spree candies. For heads, attach M&M’S Minis with dots of reserved yellow frosting. Arrange ladybugs on cake. Makes 20 servings.