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A chocolate cake is turned into a spring favorite with a few decorations!
Bright and cheery, this Sunflower Cake is sure to shine on the dessert table!
When spring and Easter are in the air, or when a little dose of cute sunshine needs to grace the table, this peep cake is sure to bring a smile. Peep cake is sweet in all ways, and so delicious.
Fun & Festive Sunflower Cake
- It is so easy to make, with just a few simple ingredients. Making it great for a last-minute dessert idea.
- To keep this quick, start with a bakery cake. If you have more time, make a boxed chocolate cake or even a from scratch cake.
- This fun and festive cake is great for spring or Easter, no decorating skills required!
- For more Easter ideas try these adorable Bunny Butt Easter Cupcakes or these 50+ Non-Candy Easter Basket Fillers!
Ingredients & Variations
PEEPS These are marshmallow candy that is yellow and shaped like little chicks. Don’t separate the peeps, keep them attached and arrange the sheet around the edge of the cake. With a 9″ cake, about 20 peeps will be needed. But it may be a good idea to buy a little more (peeps are hard to resist) just in case!
CAKE Use a pre-made cake, chocolate cake mix, or use any basic chocolate cake recipe like this Easy Chocolate Cake. Arrange the chocolate chips over the cake and these will look like the seeds from the sunflower.
FROSTING The frosting on this cake is important as it acts as the glue to hold it all together. You want a nice thick frosting, chocolate buttercream works well.
VARIATIONS For extra decor, sprinkle a few rose petals on the center of the cake. Try any flavor of cake!
How to Make a Sunflower Cake
Have this cake ready in no time!
- Frost a pre-made cake with chocolate frosting (homemade works best to stick the peeps).
- Arrange the peeps on the cake as per recipe below.
- Place the chocolate chips on the cake.
Tips for Perfect Peep Cake
- Ensure the cake is completely cooled before frosting.
- Use a thick frosting so it will hold the peeps in place.
- Don’t separate the peeps, keep them attached to one another and arrange them around the cake with their little tails hanging over the edge of the cake. The edges can be separated if needed.
- Use the larger chocolate chips for the outside circle of the cake face. Then arrange the small chocolate chips on the inside of the cake.
Spring-Inspired Sweets
- Strawberry Poke Cake – so bright & colorful
- Bunny Butt Easter Cupcakes – the cutest cupcakes
- Pineapple Coconut Cake – with tropical flavors
- Hummingbird Cake – light & creamy
- Berry Fluff Jello Salad – perfect for potlucks
Did you make this Sunflower Peep Cake? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
15 Minute Sunflower Peep Cake
Ingredients
- 1 (13.25 ounce each) box chocolate cake mix store-bought or home-made
- 1 (16 ounce each) tub chocolate frosting
- 2 to 3 packages yellow marshmallow Peeps 9-inch cake uses 20 peeps
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ⅛ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Frost cake with chocolate frosting.
- Take a strip of 5 Marshmallow peeps and gently flex it into a semi-circle shape, being careful not to separate them. Place them gently around the edge of the cake, facing inwards. Their tails will hang over the edge of the cake.
- Do this until you have a full circle of Peeps. If you need to, you can carefully trim a sliver off of both sides of a strip of Peeps, so that they’ll stick together better.
- Take the regular-sized chocolate chips and place them in rows inside the circle formed by the Peeps. Make 4 or 5 complete circular rows of regular-sized chocolate chips.
- Take the mini chocolate chips and place them in rows inside the circle formed by the regular-sized chocolate chips. Fill in any open spots with mini chocolate chips, as needed.
Notes
- A nine-inch cake will use 20 Marshmallow Peeps, but it’s good to have extras, just in case!
- Ensure the cake is completely cooled before frosting.
- Use a thick frosting so it will hold the peeps in place.
- Don't separate the peeps, keep them attached to one another and arrange them around the cake with their little tails hanging over the edge of the cake. The edges can be separated if needed.
- Use the larger chocolate chips for the outside circle of the cake face. Then arrange the small chocolate chips on the inside of the cake.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Clever idea….I made this last Spring and got a lot of oohs and aahs from family members
Kids especially loved it.
I did use a brownie mix in a 8″ round cake pan.
This recipe can use many variations and could be a hit at a baby shower.
Thanks for being creative
So glad you enjoyed it, Mari!
I am only ten years old and I made this cake all by myself! I love baking but I have never made something so cute, I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH!!!! I always make the dessert for Easter and they will surely love this just as much as I do! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I’m so glad to hear that you loved the cake and made it yourself Natalie! You should be proud :)
Thank you Jack!
Can you please tell me if the cake is a single layer or a double? Also do you rest the peeps on the top layer of the cake?
Hi Pati, I used a single layer 9-inch cake for this recipe. You could certainly nest the remaining peeps on top if you like!
Thanks for sharing this adorable recipe ! I must say, with all the different options posted, looks like I’m going to make more that one.
Melissa
I accidently bought bunny peeps instead of chicks, I hope it still looks like a sunflower. FYI, I hate peeps but this cake is too adorable not to make.
Is this for a single or double layered cake?
This will work for either. Just ensure you have enough frosting to cover whichever cake you choose. :)
I made this for Easter. I changed it to a layered brownie cake using two boxed brownie mixes in 4 round pans. Used delicious, quick and easy brownie frosting from allrecipes.com (love this site) in between the layers and on top to stick the peeps too. They didnt hold perfectly and resorted to using tooth picks to keep them on. The frosting is more like a fudge (my son said brownies with fudge in between, genius!) It was adorable and so yummy! Thanks for the idea! Couldnt get the picture to load, but looks similar to the one on the page. Link to frosting recipe. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Brownie-Frosting/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=brownie%20frosting&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1
Brownies with fudge frosting??? Count me in! That sounds like a wonderful and decadent idea for the cake!! Thank you for sharing.
Well Done Peggy!!! Ive Got My Mamma Step Coming over Tomorrow , Shes From Out Of state…. Im EXCITED Cause She Taught Me ,My Cooking Skills and How To be Creative With it!!……………. We Are Celebrating Easter “late” …. We Just Lost My Dada To Cancer, Just Over a Year ago, ( It sure Doesn’t seem That long, Our First Easter Without HIm.. :( )…. Just a Few Months ago She ( My Mama Step), Found Out She Has Cancer…. So she was Unable To Make it Over For Easter Due To Her Treatments.. Well ,Her FAVORITE Flower Is Sunflowers!! And Her Most FAVORITE Easter Treat Is Peeps!!! So Im OVERLY Excited To Show My Talent!!! I Surly Hope to Put a BIG Smile On her Face!!!……….. I will Post PIx!!…………… TY For Sharing Yur Pic!!! This Is Such a GREAT Idea!! Our Bakery/Stores Doesn’t Sell Pre~Made Cakes So I made My Own!! ….. Im So EXCITED!!!!! Well …… Ill be Back with a Pic!!!!! …………….. Sincerely Jacquie ;)
I am sorry for your loss Jacquie. I hope you have a wonderful late Easter and I can’t wait to see your photos!
Great idea.
ok I decided to make the SUNFLOWER PEEP CAKE..it actually turned out better than I expected..lol
Will be making this again!
Oh Peggy! It turned out ADORABLE!! Thank you for sharing!
Oooh, I’m thinking yellow (or lemon) cake, lemon buttercream frosting and blueberries! I LOVE lemon and blueberries together. The Peeps are adorable, of course (I’m a certified Peep-aholic), and this is really a cute idea. Thank you!
Way too cute! I am going to make this for my daughter for her 2nd birthday. Her birthday is in April so I think it will be perfect! Thank you for the idea! =) Oh and I didnt know I can buy a pre-made un-frosted cake? Where would I find that?
Some bakeries offer them but if yours doesn’t you can often ask the bakery department and they can usually offer you one. :)
Is there two layers of peeps? One upside down on the bottom?
Just one layer. Those are their tails you see underneath. :)
how do the peeps stick to the cake? I dont get it.
The stick to the frosting on the cake.
Sounds really good I might try it with white frosting and m&m’s the easter m & m’ s
They have the peeps in a bunch of colors you could use pink or purple peeps with white icing and maybe skittles in the middle to make them a little brighter or vary colors? I’ll send a pic if I can when I do it;-)
I would LOVE to see that! It would be adorable! :)
M&Ms!
I was thinking white frosting and blueberries instead of choc chips would be nice. Great idea…. Can’t wait to try it.
That would be super cute too!
I was thinking the same thing about blueberries and white frosting, but also perhaps add blackberries for the larger “seeds” and blueberries toward the center. I LOVE this idea and can’t wait to try it!!
what a great idea I like that better than chocolate chips