This Hostess Cupcake sheet cake is the real deal: the base is a fabulously dark buttermilk chocolate cake. The filling is an absolutely delicious marshmallow buttercream. It’s topped off by a bittersweet/dark chocolate ganache.
Hostess Cupcake Sheet Cake
4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalThis is not just a novelty cake. It is utterly fantastic.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
Butter, for pan
15 oz. AP flour (3 cups), plus more for pans
1 lb. 5 oz. sugar (3 cups)
4.75 oz. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (1½ cups)
1 Tbs baking soda
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp coarse salt
4 large eggs (7 oz)
12.75 oz. low-fat buttermilk (1½ cups)
12 oz. warm water ( 1½ cups)
4.25 oz. safflower oil (1/2-cup plus 2 Tbs)
2 tsp vanilla
- For the filling:
6 oz. butter (12 Tbs), at room temperature
11.75 oz. confectioners’ sugar (3 cups)
5 oz. marshmallow fluff (1½ cups)
8 oz. heavy cream (1 cup)
- For the ganache:
8 oz. bittersweet (60%) chocolate, chopped (1⅓ cups)
8 oz. dark (72%) chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
16 oz. heavy cream (2 cups)
Directions
- Bake the cake.
- Butter and flour a 9 x 13 x 2.5-inch glass baking dish. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Stir flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on lowest speed, 30 seconds. Add eggs, buttermilk, water, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed (ramping up to setting 4 out of 10) until smooth, 3 minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
- Cool in pan on rack, 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely.
- Make the filling.
- Beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar, and fluff on lowest speed. Once all the sugar is moistened, increase speed to medium (setting 4) and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth (1 minute 30 seconds total beating.) Add cream and beat just until smooth, 1 minute. Reserve 1/2-cup of the filling in a pastry bag fitted with a .125-inch round tip, or in a small Ziploc bag.
- Split the cake in half horizontally, but not into equal halves. Make the cut about 3/5 of the way from the bottom, so that the bottom layer is thicker than the top. Return the bottom layer to the washed and bone-dried pan. Spread filling evenly over it. Place the top cake layer. Cover and refrigerate.
- Make the ganache.
- Place chocolate and salt in a bowl. Heat the cream just to the boiling point. Pour it over the chocolate, and let it sit, covered, 10 minutes. Whisk the mixture until it’s smooth and homogenized. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure the whisk hasn’t missed any of the chocolate. Let the ganache rest, uncovered, stirring now and then, until it becomes thick enough to leave significant ribbons when stirred, about 45 minutes.
- Pour the ganache evenly over the cake. Stop when the cake is fully covered; you may have a small amount of ganache left over. Refrigerate until the ganache is fully set, a few minutes.
- Finish up.
- With the small pastry bag of filling, or snipping a tiny corner off the Ziploc bag, pipe several lines of tiny squiggles across the top of the cake. Although the cake can be served immediately, it will be better if you refrigerate it until the squiggles are fully set, then wrap the cake tightly in plastic and let it rest overnight in the fridge.
Notes
- Substitutions: 8.25 oz. bread flour (1½ cups) + 6.75 oz. cake flour (1½ cups) for the AP
The Backstory
I didn’t invent the idea of a Hostess Cupcake sheet cake. But because it looked like fun, I set out to create one of my own.
I didn’t expect to be so spectacular. The cake is neither airy nor dense. It’s neither super-moist nor dry. It’s beautifully balanced right in between all four of those points, which leaves you with a cake that’s great on its own, but also goes nicely with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. Although the cake’s texture is not fudgy the flavor is. There’s just enough filling so that it doesn’t get lost in the overall effect. The filling not only tastes great on its own, but it makes you taste the chocolate even more vividly. At first I wavered on the amount of ganache, thinking it should be thinner, but after several slices over several days, I wound up really loving these proportions. Long story short, this is not just a novelty cake. It’s a great cake by any standard.
I took this cake with me to Thanksgiving dinner at my brother’s house, and I made the mistake of letting it sit out in a warm house too long. The filling turned to mush, and the cake’s texture wasn’t right. It was kind of disappointing. It needs to be served chilled. Maybe not straight from the fridge (although that’s not bad), but maybe cool rather than stone cold. Just not room temperature. (Oh, by the way, once I returned it to the fridge, it went right back to being spectacular.)
Social Learning
During it’s overnight stint in the fridge, the crumb will absorb moisture from the filling, which improves the texture of both. The bottom layer will compress, which will even out the 3/5 split into perfect-looking proportions.
This isn’t a difficult cake as far as from-scratch cakes go, but it does take quite some time. Most of that is unattended: baking, cooling, waiting for the ganache to set up.
To get 44 servings, start by orienting the cake so that the long sides are at the north and south. Make three vertical cuts, separating the cake into four even segments about 3.75″ wide. Slice horizontally into 1″ slices. That will produce perfectly party-size pieces. Although, making only two horizontal cuts is by no means out of the question and still leaves you with plenty servings. I wouldn’t vote for thicker-than-one-inch slices, though; I think they’d be less attractive.
Here is a general tip that is useful not just for this cake, but for many types of cakes: If the eggs turn out to weigh more that what the recipe requires, don’t worry about it. However, if they turn out to weigh less, add mayo to bring the amount up to specs.
I specify a glass baking pan only because that’s what I happen to use for this cake, and the pan’s material affects baking time. The truth is, many factors can affect baking time, so always test.
Fluff
Marshmallow fluff is frustratingly sticky.
I suggest that you scoop it out of the jar with a small spatula, and measure it by weight directly into the mixing bowl. Also, you think it’d be next to the peanut butter in the grocery store – that’s where I’d put it – but it might be on the other side of the store, next to the ice cream toppings.
The filling is PERFECT. It tastes exactly like it should, except that it’s ridiculously delicious. It tastes like an amazing “food” version of whatever chemical concoction normally goes into a Hostess cupcake filling.
Adult Lunchbox
This is an excellent cake to pack in your lunch. First, you can cut it into a nice, square-edged shape that will fit neatly into a packable container. So long as it’s either wrapped directly and tightly in plastic, or the container it’s in is airtight, it will stay fresh in your lunchbox.
It’s also pretty rugged, so it will come out of your lunchbox in the same condition it went in.
Even if some sociopath suddenly crosses two lanes of oncoming traffic plus a turn lane in order to make a left-hand turn right in front of you, with no warning or even a turn signal, at a dangerously high speed, and even though you had already entered the intersection, and even though you slam on your breaks as quickly as you can, and you can’t believe you didn’t slam right into him because of course you were driving probably at least ten miles over the limit and had barely enough time at all to react, and everything, including your lunchbox, goes careening through your car, the cake will survive intact.
Hostess Cupcake Sheet Cake
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Looks delicious, and who hasn’t secretly enjoyed a hostess cupcake. 🙂 Happy holidays.
Thanks, Judy!
As I was reading the description, I could feel my salivary glands squeezing, Jeff. It reads deliciously.
Thank you, Gary!
Jeff I absolutely adore the look of your cake. I am intrigued though that you use bread flour in the cake and I’ve never seen marshmallow fluff, now that is something to hunt out. What difference do you think using bread flour makes to the cake crumb. Your lunchbox must be the envy of your co-workers. Another chocolate cake for me to try. Happy Boxing Day Jeff.
Because I like to bake bread, and I like to bake cake, I stock bread and cake flour. When I need all-purpose, I combine the two. Usually, I put AP flour in the recipe, and then call out mixture of bread and cake flours in the substitutions, but I guess I forgot to do that here, so I corrected it after reading your comment.
Dude, you had me at Hostess. Full stop, didn’t need to hear anything else. Sold LOL
🙂
That looks so tender and yummy! Merry Christmas, Jeff.
Thanks, Angie!
Oh my goodness, this looks delicious!
Thank you!
Jeff, your Hotess Cupcake sheet cake has me drooling and bringing back childhood memories. As a young boy, I loved Hostess Cupcakes. Do they still make them? I also loved having one or two straight from the fridge with a cold glass of milk.
It’s no secret that I’m not a baker, but my neighbor is, so I’m passing this on to her, hoping to taste your recipe soon.
Yes, they still make them. I used to love them, too … I’m not sure if they’ve changed or I’ve changed, but they’re kind of disappointing now. This cake, though, will bring all those fond memories right back to you!
I’m already planning to make this for a friend who loved his hostess cupcakes. And I must admit that, before reading, I scrolled ahead to make sure you included the squiggly lines on top! It wouldn’t be Hostess without them. Thanks, Jeff. Hope you both had a lovely Christmas.
Let me know how it goes! Thanks!
I welcome you Jeff 🖐😉
This cake looks very fantastic and tasty. This is something fantastic for afternoon snack, but also like dessert for Birthday party or New Year’s Eve party.
Thank you so much for it that you share with us this recipe 🤗
Best regards to you, I send you a lot of hugs 🤗🥰🧡
Thank you, Patryk!
yummy
Thanks!
a hostess cupcake sheet cake? nope i have no idea what these words mean :=) But it sounds delicious anyway. happy new year!
Ah, it’s based on a snack cake that’s been part of American culture for generations.
(Oh, by the way, you’ve been misspelling your URL in the comments. It doesn’t lead anywhere. I corrected it on this one.)
44 servings? That is one huge holiday party! Your cakes always look so darn good. Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year to tou and yours.
I know, that’s a lot of servings for a sheet cake, and I’ll admit that those are small portions, but the cake is quite rich and filling.
This is such a fun dessert, Jeff. Though I’m happy it reset in the fridge, I’m sure the “mushy” warmer version would be equally delicious. Hope you’ve had a nice holiday season and I wish you a very happy new year. 🙂 ~Valentina
Happy New Year to you, too, Valentina!
Jeff- What a cake! It looks amazing I used to love Hostess cupcakes when I was a kid… Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year
Thank you, and Happy New Year to you, too, Judee!
You are a master a cakes and this sounds like another winner. Thanks for letting me know about how the cake is pretty rugged, just in case I ever meet up with the lunatic driver while transporting the cake. 😊
Right?
Very interesting name. But it goes well with the tea-breaks.
Thanks!
Hahaha – that description of how this cake survived the car trip is pretty epic. Also, it’s good to know that this one is versatile like that. I love the concept of this cake, and it sounds absolutely fantastic! And I couldn’t agree with you more about marshmallow fluff. Robbie loves fluffernutter sandwiches, but man is that fluff hard to spread! (Sometimes I actually nuke it in a bowl for a couple of seconds so it doesn’t rip his bread to shreds. Dad of the Year move right there.)
Nice move, dad! It’s incredibly messy. Just getting it out of the jar without getting it on your hands or clothes is trying.
This looks lovely. Though I am not fond of a chocolate or cocoa mix cake, the moment I see vanilla cream in it, I crave for a slice!
Thanks, Soma!