Warning – reading this post could cause you to drool directly on your keyboard.

I saw the recipe for the Pioneer Woman’s Milky Way Cake a few weeks back.  It looked so yummy that I posted a link to it on Facebook and thought seriously about making it.  My only worry?  I wasn’t sure that I could find Milky Way bars over here.  I quickly learned that while there are MW bars over here, they’re not the same as American MW bars.  My Kiwi friends suggested that I use Caramel Mars Bars instead, and so I decided to give it a try.

Oh my.  This cake is exactly the way PW describes it – ridiculous.  It uses 11 candy bars.  I was in sugar shock just from making it!  Once it was completed and cooled, I promptly cut it up and put some into plastic containers to give to other people.  That’s too much chocolate to have lying around the house, but it was fun to make {and eat}.

You can go here for the original recipe, or if you live in NZ {like me!} you can scroll down and check out my modified version.  Whichever way you make it, be sure to have a glass of milk on hand.

Mars Bar Cake

• 11 whole caramel Mars Bars {52 grams apiece}
• 3 sticks of butter, divided, or about 340 grams divided into 3 chunks, room temperature
• 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 C buttermilk {you can make your own with 1/2 T lemon juice or white vinegar + enough milk to equal 1/2 C}
• 3 tsp vanilla extract, divided
• 2 C sugar
• 4 whole eggs
• 2 C icing sugar
• 1 dash salt
• 1/2 C milk {more or less as needed}
• 1 C finely chopped pecans

In a medium saucepan, melt butter + 8 candy bars over lowest possible heat, stirring to combine.  Set aside.

While candy bars are melting, sift together flour + 1/2 tsp of salt.  Set aside.  Mix baking soda with buttermilk, then add 2 tsp vanilla and set aside.

Cream together granulated sugar + 1 stick of butter.  Add eggs 1 at a time.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the creamed mixture, mixing well with beaters after each addition.  Add melted candy bar mixture and mix to combine.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch pan or jelly roll pan and bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes, or till center of cake is set.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Once cake is cool, begin making the frosting.  Melt remaining candy bars with butter.  Add icing sugar, dash of salt, 1 tsp of vanilla, and milk.  Add in chopped pecans and stir over low heat.  Pour over cooled cake and allow to set.

I used a jelly roll pan, and this yielded 24 servings.  Also, I thought the cake was just a bit dry – definitely not as sticky and messy as described in the original recipe.  I think that next time I make it, I may – gulp – try adding another candy bar to the cake mixture, since the Mars Bars are just a bit smaller than standard American Milky Way bars.  We’ll see!