Turn a broken cake into delicious chocolate peanut butter cake balls. The perfect no-waste dessert when your cake crumbles or won’t come out of the pan.
What to Do When Your Cake Falls Apart
What do you make when your chocolate cake falls apart? One minute it’s pure happiness — your cake is in the oven, smelling dreamy, and you’re already surfing Pinterest for frosting ideas that will “wow” everyone. The next minute… disaster. Your cake won’t come out of the pan, it’s crumbling in your hands, and suddenly you’re googling “why did my cake fall apart?” or “what to do with a broken cake?”.
Been there. Actually, I was there earlier this week. And before the tears and the (very) bad words begin, I’m here to tell you: a failed cake isn’t a failure at all — it’s an opportunity.
Because when your cake breaks into one million pieces, you can turn it into the most delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Balls. These little no-waste cake treats are so good that you might actually start ruining cakes on purpose just to make them. Yes, really. If you’ve ever wondered how to save a crumbled cake or what to make with leftover cake scraps… this is it.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Balls (Your New Favorite “Oops” Recipe)
Fail at baking chocolate cake. Good job. You aren’t going to regret it at all.
Break up your chocolate cake into a bowl. You can use 1 or 2 9 inch cakes for this recipe. Take the cake and crumble it up into small pieces, getting rid of any large chunks.
Pour your peanut butter frosting in the bowl. This frosting is amazing!
Mix it all up. The color of your peanut butter is going to disappear but the taste will remain. You can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter for this recipe. I used crunchy to naturally add nuts, which you can see below.
Roll them into tablespoon sized balls. Put in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.
Get your ingredients ready that you want to roll the balls in. You can use shredded coconut, powdered sugar, sprinkles, crushed nuts, crushed candy. Now roll each ball in a bowl of whatever ingredient you are using.
I did some of each because I was so excited. After you roll them, put back in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Eat them, freeze them, enjoy. You can serve them immediately, or you can throw them in a freezer bag in the freezer for quick sweet treats as needed (my kids love these!).
Can I Use Chocolate or Vanilla Cake?
Absolutely — both chocolate and vanilla cake work perfectly for making cake balls. This recipe is super flexible, so feel free to use whatever leftover cake you have on hand.
- Chocolate cake gives you a rich, deep flavor that pairs beautifully with the peanut butter.
- Vanilla cake creates a sweeter, lighter base that lets the peanut butter shine.
- Marble cake, yellow cake, funfetti cake, or even cupcakes all work too!
As long as the cake is baked and crumbled (whether on purpose or thanks to a baking disaster), you can turn it into delicious, no-waste cake balls. So don’t worry about what flavor you started with — this recipe is here to rescue any broken cake.
Enjoy! Hope this recipe helps you with your failed chocolate cake!
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Ingredients
For the Frosting
- ▢ 1/2 cup butter melted
- ▢ 1 cup creamy or crunchy Peanut Butter
- ▢ 2 cups powdered confectioners sugar
- ▢ 2 tablespoons milk
Extra
- ▢ Shredded Coconut
- ▢ Powdered Sugar
- ▢ Sprinkles
- ▢ Crushed Nuts
Instructions
- Beat melted butter and peanut butter in a bowl until fully mixed well and creamy.
- Gradually mix in sugar and once thick, add milk in.
- Continue beating for about 2 minutes until very creamy.
To make the cake balls:
- Drop your failed cakes into a large bowl. Crush with your hands or spoon to crumble the cake into small pieces.
- Add frosting into the bowl. Stir with spoon.
- Using your hands form tablespoon sized balls and place on wax paper cookie sheet. Continue doing this until all the cake mixture is gone.
- Put in refrigerator for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge and roll balls into your choice of shredded coconut, powdered sugar, sprinkles or crushed nuts.
- Place back on wax paper cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1 more hour.
- Eat! Or throw in a freezer bag and freeze for a quick sweet snack!
Notes
What To Make When a Cake Falls Apart (Easy Cake Balls!)
Ingredients
For the Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1 cup creamy or crunchy Peanut Butter
- 2 cups powdered confectioners sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Extra
- Shredded Coconut
- Powdered Sugar
- Sprinkles
- Crushed Nuts
Instructions
- Beat melted butter and peanut butter in a bowl until fully mixed well and creamy.
- Gradually mix in sugar and once thick, add milk in.
- Continue beating for about 2 minutes until very creamy.
To make the cake balls:
- Drop your failed cakes into a large bowl. Crush with your hands or spoon to crumble the cake into small pieces.
- Add frosting into the bowl. Stir with spoon.
- Using your hands form tablespoon sized balls and place on wax paper cookie sheet. Continue doing this until all the cake mixture is gone.
- Put in refrigerator for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge and roll balls into your choice of shredded coconut, powdered sugar, sprinkles or crushed nuts.
- Place back on wax paper cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1 more hour.
- Eat! Or throw in a freezer bag and freeze for a quick sweet snack!
Notes
Recipe Created by Pamela Reed for brooklynfarmgirl.com
