Easy Birthday M&M Cake {Gravity Defying}

Learn how to make this easy homemade gravity defying m&m cake for kids birthday parties with simple ingredients. Decorated with chocolate buttercream frosting, fondant and colorful candies. Perfect cake decorating tutorial for beginners.

Using candies is one of my favorite ways to level up a boring cake. I am sure you remember my generous use of candies in this Treasure Chest Cake (With Kit Kat) and this Easy Gender Reveal Cake (Baby Shower) along with my Best Birthday Cake. Well, brace yourself for today's version which is so fun and playful and especially requested by my son for his special day.

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• How to make easy m&m cake (gravity defying cake)?
• Tips and techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More homemade birthday cake ideas
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Cake- You will need two chocolate cake rounds for this recipe.
• Frosting- I like to use my classic chocolate for best flavor.
• Candies- I used various sizes and types of M&M candies.
• Melted chocolate- I like to use semisweet but you can also use milk or dark. This works like edible glue to stick all the candies on the cake.
• Fondant- Three colors were used for my cake, including red, white, and black.

Variations

• Try other cake flavors- Such as Best Vanilla Cake Recipe (From Scratch) , Easy Cherry Cake (With Cake Mix), Best Red Velvet Cake (Layer Cake), or this Easy Pink Champagne Cake (With Strawberry).
• Consider other frosting flavors- Such as Caramel Frosting, White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (2 Ingredients), Easy Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (Fluffy), or even Easy Mint Frosting.
• Use two bags of candies- On opposite sides. You can even use two different kinds of candy if you like.
• Make a tiered cake- You can make this cake really fancy by adding graduating tiers.
• Add a filling- Such as my Raspberry Pie Filling, Blueberry Pie Filling, or Cherry Pie Filling. You can also use Cake Batter Dip (Funfetti Dip) or Chocolate Fruit Dip (Fluffy Creamy) which both work unbelievably well as cake fillings. Can also add jams like this Strawberry Jam, preserves, Biscoff cookie butter spread, Nutella hazelnut spread, pistachio butter and other nut butters, along with Homemade Vanilla Pudding (Best), Homemade Vanilla Custard (Easy), Homemade Caramel Sauce, and even Dulce de Leche.
• Make different facial expressions- My son specifically requested the expressions that you are seeing in these pictures but you can do whatever face you like.
• Use different color of fondant- Once again, my son requested a red m&m but you can use whatever color you like. Blue and yellow are also popular choices.
• Make mini cakes- Using small 3 inch cakes or even cupcakes, mini candies and tiny straws.
• Do a Pinata Cake- And fill this inside with mini M&Ms. You can even open a portion of the cake to let some of the candies spill out. The cascading candies from the wrapper will flow into one big waterfall of M&Ms.
• Place small M&M characters or other cake toppers- On top of the candies for another cute component.
• Use other candies- Such as Skittles, Sixlets, Nerds or another favorite.

How to make easy m&m cake (gravity defying cake)?

Tips and techniques

• To achieve a smooth fondant appearance- Be sure to ice buttercream smoothly on the cake. Follow this tutorial on How to Frost Cake Smoothly for tips.
• Use gel food coloring to color fondant- Because it keeps the fondant consistency unlike the liquid colorings.
• I highly recommend buying red fondant- Because it is very hard to get that perfect deep red shade at home.
• Flavor fondant if you like- Using clear extracts of your choice.
• If fondant is too sticky- Sprinkle some powdered sugar to make it easier to knead and roll out.
• Don't assemble or decorate a warm cake- Because the fondant and frosting will get melty and all your hard work will simply melt away.
• Divide the work over a couple of days-This will make the process less overwhelming. Bake the cakes and prepare the frosting on day 1. Assemble and decorate on day 2.
• Use different sizes of m&m candies- This led to a much better overall appearance than using only the regular sized candies. Also, remove the brown ones. They didn't look too nice.
• Steam the cake- In order to get rid of any powdered sugar residue.
• Sketch out the facial details- This will help act as a template for the fondant pieces and make your work easier and more flawless.
• Pipe the facial details- If you feel you have a steady hand and a good eye.
• To move things along quicker you can make the frosting while the cakes are baking and cooling.
• Use a sharp knife or cookie cutter- To make clean details and shapes for the fondant face.
• When pushing the straw and bag into the cake- Be sure to do so on an angle so it looks more realistic.
• Leave part of the straw sticking out of the bag- Instead of pushing it all the way into the cake. This makes it so you can cover it with the melted chocolate and candies to give that "pouring out" effect.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Refrigerate- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container for up to 3 days but the moisture from the fridge can cause the fondant to become sticky.
• Freeze- Fondant covered cakes cannot be frozen because the fondant becomes very sticky upon thawing.
• Room temperature- This can stay out for about 3-5 hours away from direct heat, sunlight and moisture.
• Make ahead- You can easily make this 1 day in advance.

More homemade birthday cake ideas

• Easy Karate Cake (Black Belt Cake)
• Erupting Volcano Cake (With Dry Ice Smoke)
• Modern Abstract Cake
• Lord of the Rings Cake (Sauron Eye Cake)
• Easy Teddy Bear Cake (And Party)

Recipe