Kit Kat Basket Cake

You don't have to be a professional cake decorator to make this beautiful and delicious cake.   Who wouldn't like a cake surrounded by Kit Kat bars and covered with M&Ms.

The Kit Kat Basket Cake is everywhere on the internet and probably one of the most seen cakes in the blog world.  But for those of you who haven't seen it, here it is.

The Kit Kat Cake is easy to make.  It starts with your basic 9" round cake, baked in any flavor you want.  Then ice it with the icing of your choice.  Here is a hint though, don't use a buttercream icing, this is a lesson I learned the hard way.  My first attempt I used a buttercream icing, it held beautifully until we went to cut it, but then all the Kit Kats and M&Ms fell over and the entire cake collapsed.   Buttercream is to soft to hold the candies in place.  I recommend a more sticky frosting such as a decorator frosting.   A canned icing may hold.

You may want to slice the cake in half, making it into two layers and add a filling or a layer of icing in between the layers, before icing the rest of the cake.  A cake slicer is a good way to evenly cut the cake in half.  But if you don't have a cake slicer a string works well.

After you ice the cake you need to add the Kit Kats, expect to use around 16 Kit Kat Bars.  Carefully break the bars into two sets of twos and then place them around the cake.   Once they are around the cake put the cake in the fridge and allow it to set about a half hour to an hour.  Once its out of the fridge tie a festive, seasonal ribbon around the cake.  This is decorative and it helps hold the kit kats together.  Then pour the M&Ms on top spreading them around the cake.  I use a full bag.

Here is your basic Kit Kat Cake:

The reason I thought to post this in November is that the Kit Kat Cake to me automatically makes me think of fall.  I am not sure why, maybe because it resembles a barrel.  But it was in fall that I made my first Kit Kat Cake using autumn colored M&Ms.   But my favorite thing about a Kit Kat Cake is that you can decorate it for any season.  You can even substitute M&Ms with other candies.   Here are some I found in my searches:

Valentines Day:

Easter: 
Use icing and the grass tip to make grass or fill it up with all eggs like the picture above.

Halloween:

Thanksgiving/Autumn:

Christmas:
Red & Green M&Ms is the more common way of making this cake a Christmas treat.

You can even make it two tiered for an extra special occasion.