How to Decorate Your Million Dollar Cake with Dairy Milk Flakes

A Million Dollar Cake is exactly how it sounds, referring to a cake that is exceptionally rich, indulgent, and often associated with retro-style desserts, especially in the South of the United States. This conjures an image of an extravagant cake, which it is, but some things remain constant; here are the common constituents:

• Base: Boxed Cake Mix
• Filling: Instant Pudding
• Flavor: Citrusy Fruits
• Frosting: Whipped Cream Cheese

The most popular version of this kind of cake is made using a boxed cake mix to make the base, then the filling is made from instant vanilla pudding and heavy cream, and then topped with a whipped cream cheese frosting and garnished with mandarin oranges. Some ditch the oranges and go for pineapple because canned pineapples are more popular in cakes, and that is the version we are working with here. Let’s make it even more indulgent by crafting a Million Dollar Cake with Almonds & Cadbury Dairy Milk Flakes!

The Base: A Pineapple-Infused Sponge

Use a box cake mix and replace the water with a mix of buttermilk and pineapple juice, which will keep the cake light yet rich, while the acidic content will give you that magical tender crumb. While the other ingredients like the sifted flour, butter, and vanilla create a base that’s already delicious before the first layer of filling is even added. Most recipes call for a two-tier cake, so you will likely need to split your batter between two cake pans and bake until both cakes are golden and springy to the touch. Let it cool completely before applying the frosting, otherwise it might start melting thanks to the heat from the freshly baked cake.

The Filling: A Creamy and Dreamy Pineapple Filling

Whipped cream meets smooth cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar, all folded with each other along with crushed pineapple. This whole mixing creates a velvety yet bumpy filling that is infused with pineapple bits that trumps any regular smooth filling. This filling is to be spread generously between the twin cake sponge layers and all over the cake, smoothing the edges for a polished look, like how you fill and frost your regular cake.

The Crowning Glory: Dairy Milk Chocolate Flakes

This is where your knife skills come in, that goes chop chop on a chilled Dairy Milk chocolate bar. You can also use a grater or a vegetable peeler, depending on what kind of chocolate shavings you want; for flakes, a fine grater is your best bet. Once you have enough shavings, scatter the chocolate flakes over the top of your cake, like edible confetti.

More Glory: Toasted Almonds, Whipped Cream and Pineapple

Why should the pineapple-whipped cream filling have all the fun? Take your pick of extravagance with piped whipped cream, or dolloped whipped cream, neat vs messy, take your pick. You can also press toasted almond slivers along the sides of the cake for a nice crunch and nutty flavor. Their nutty crunch somehow balances and brings out the softness of the sponge cake and its filling, while their beautiful aroma gives warmth to every slice. If this isn’t enough, go even more extravagant and pipe rosettes of whipped cream around the edges of the cake, and carefully poke in some fresh pineapple slices on top.

Million Dollar Cake Chilling Chilling

Before serving the cake, make sure you let the cake have its beauty rest, at least for 2 hours, or better yet, overnight. This allows the cake to set and for the flavors to really develop. Indoors is where this cake should be, for the whipped cream is delicate and might melt and cause a mess. You can serve it alongside a cup of piping hot tea or a glass of sparkling wine.

Always Use Room-Temperature Butter

The temperature of the butter matters, too cold and it clumps, too warm and it melts. Take out the butter from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes, for the perfect butter texture that your cake needs. You don’t need gold or silver foils to make a million-dollar cake, with layers of pineapple cream, a soft twin vanilla sponge cakes, a decoration of Dairy Milk flakes, and almond crunch, will make this cake the centerpiece of any occasion.

There is another variation of the Million Dollar Cake – the Million Dollar Pound Cake, a dense and buttery cake made with simple ingredients like butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, without the use of leavening agents. This cake is known for its rich flavor and tender crumb, just like the namesake, the pound cake.