This M&M’s® Earthquake Cake is the perfect treat to serve for a game night in with friends. Offer your guests some fun toppings like whip cream, sprinkles and assorted M&M’s® and you have a Sundae Bar everyone will enjoy!
Way back in high school, game nights were one of my favorite nights with friends. We played cards, board games, trivia games, etc. I still have great memories of those nights. Whether we divided into teams, or had multiple games running at the same time, it was always fun.
Now as a parent I enjoy sharing game nights with my own children, but have been thinking of reviving the old game nights with some of our high school friends who are back living in town. I have visions of either getting a sitter to watch all our kids upstairs in the playroom, or getting them all settled in with a movie so we can have a little time to ourselves.
I love the classics, and that includes both HASBRO® Jenga and Classic Monopoly along with keeping a classic bowl of M&M's® Milk Chocolate and Peanut candies within arm's reach.
But I also wanted to include a treat for our game night that would be fun and make us feel like teenagers again. Inspiration struck for a gooey M&M’s® Earthquake Cake, but then to offer some fun toppings so everyone could create their own Sundaes.
To start with an Earthquake cake is a very simple thing to whip up last minute for a party.
You will need a good chocolate cake mix, which you will not bake as directed but instead add eggs, oil and water and then pour over a bed of sweetened coconut, chopped pecans and M&M’s®.
Yes, just pour it right over the top...
Then I created a sweetened cream cheese layer. Just a little cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
That too was just poured over the top. Then I used a skewer to swirl the top two layers together. This also pulls up some of the coconut, nuts and candies.
After baking, the cake has shifted and cracked a little. It will still be a little gooey inside, but it will have cracked like an earthquake fault line.
Of course the real star of game night is always the good, fun competition and a whole lot of catching up with good friends.
What is it about taxing your friends and charging them rent for traveling around the board that is just so much fun?
And HASBRO® Jenga is always another big hit. This game can get quite loud when it gets going. ...and of course when it comes crashing down!
M&M’s® Earthquake Cake Sundaes
You Will Need:
- 2/3 c. shredded coconut
- 1/2 c. chopped pecans
- 1 c. M&M’s® Milk Chocolate
- 1 box of your choice of chocolate cake mix (not prepared)
- 1/3 c. oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/3 c. water
- 1/2 c. butter
- 1 8oz. pkg. of cream cheese
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
Sundae Toppings
- whipped cream
- sprinkles
- M&M’s® of choice
- chocolate syrup
- caramel syrup
- Marachino cherries
Sprinkle the coconut, then nuts and M&M’s® in the bottom of the baking dish.
In a medium bowl, prepare the cake batter. Add the mix, oil, eggs and water with a hand mixer until just mixed. Pour this into the baking dish.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and cream cheese together, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat once incorporated and beat in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top of the cake mix. With a skewer or knife, move from side to side to slightly mix the layers. You can gently swirl it, but do not mix.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake is set in the middle. Let the cake cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
Serve with topping choices and load up the cake to create your own M&M’s® Earthquake Cake Sundae for game night!
Enjoy!
I grabbed all our game night supplies, including both games and cake ingredients at our local Walmart. And before you head out to shop, be sure to grab this coupon for $1.00 off M&M’s®.
Follow the #GameNightIn hashtag and check out even more great ideas for making your game nights memorable at http://cbi.as/6z61.
How do you keep the party going on your game nights?
