Our easy Butterfinger Cake recipe starts with a cake mix so it’s a snap to make. Uniquely moist, flavored with chocolate and caramel, and topped with a thick generous layer of whipped topping and crushed butterfingers. Perfect any time you need a yummy, easy dessert to feed a crowd!
This Butterfinger Cake recipe serves up a dessert that’s super moist and super sweet. If you’re looking for the perfect sweet cake to serve after dinner, this Butterfinger Cake can’t be beaten.
Try my Quadruple Chocolate Poke Cake for another poke cake option or my Chocolate Delight for a creamy, layered pudding, 9X13 inch dessert.
What are Butterfingers?
Butterfingers are a very popular American candy bar with a buttery, crispy, layered filling covered in chocolate.
What is Butterfinger Cake?
Butterfinger Cake is, quite honestly, exactly what it sounds like! It’s a cake that’s literally infused with caramel goodness, topped with – you guessed it – Butterfinger candy. Our recipe is made from chocolate cake mix, which makes it’s incredibly simple to put together.
There are two secrets to Butterfinger Cake, and neither secret has anything to do with the actual cake part of the cake.
- The first secret is the Butterfinger cake frosting or topping. Sweetened condensed milk and whipped topping give the frosting just the right texture to impart even more moisture to your cake.
- The second secret is this: my recipe for this dessert could actually be considered a Butterfinger poke cake.
- Whether you make it with a box mix or from scratch, the trick is to poke holes in your cake to let the topping permeate the cake. The result is an even sweeter cake. It’s truly like eating candy for dessert! Nothing wrong with that!
Once you’ve tried our Butterfinger cake, I’m sure you’ll want to play around with the recipe. Believe me, I’ve tried many. I’ve come up with a Butterfinger cheesecake, a Butterfinger layer cake and I’ve even tried my hand at a Butterfinger cake with angel food cake instead of chocolate.
How to Make Butterfinger Cake
Okay, so on to the good stuff – how to make Butterfinger cake. Some recipes call for using a Devils Food Cake mix. I use a Chocolate Cake mix in my recipe. I love the slightly deeper flavor the chocolate brings to this cake.
I’ve even made the Butterfinger cake Paula Deen makes, baking the cake from scratch. It’s, of course, really yummy. But, as I’ve said, I just don’t think it’s necessary with this recipe. One of the things I love best about this cake is its simplicity. That said, there are three things you need to remember when you’re making this recipe.
First, follow the instructions on the cake mix box. Remember to check your cake a few minutes before it’s due to come out of the oven because some ovens run hotter than others.
Secondly, remember that timing is key. You’ll need to allow your cake to cool for about 5 minutes before you start poking holes in it.
Then make sure you apply the caramel and sweetened condensed milk mixture while the cake is still hot so the mixture absorbs well into the cake.
How Long Do You Bake Butterfinger Cake?
Depending on the cake mix you choose, the time it takes to bake a Butterfinger cake may vary slightly. Follow the box direction and check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake, when the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done baking.
Because there are a couple steps after the cake is baked, it’s not one of those desserts you can put in the oven when your family sits down to dinner, and serve it when it’s time to clear the table!
Most Butterfinger cakes will take around an hour to make. That includes the bake time. The good news is that you can actually prepare the cake in the morning (while the kids are at school and aren’t begging to lick the beaters-leaving you the first shot at them!) and serve it for supper that night. The beauty of making it early in the day is that the topping will have all day to absorb into the cake. That means a sweeter, denser, moister, cake for you and your family.
What’s the Difference Between Butterfinger Cake and Better Than Anything Cake?
I’ve passed along this recipe to a few of my friends, and they’ve compared it to Better than Anything Cake. So, what’s the difference between the two?
Very little, but enough to make a difference! Better than Anything Cake is a poke cake, just like this one. The biggest difference between the Butterfinger cake and the Better than Anything cake is that Better than Anything Cake often uses Heath Bars.
That might not make much difference if you’ve never tried this recipe before. But Heath bars just… do something different to the taste of the cake! Bottom line, if you’re looking for a super sweet way to end your supper, a Butterfinger cake is the way to go!
Recipe Notes For Butterfinger Cake:
- Thaw Time- Remember frozen whipped topping needs to be thawed properly before you use it in the recipe. Otherwise, the topping won’t fully infuse into the poke cake, and the dessert just won’t be the same.
- Cake Mix- In this recipe, the cake mix you use doesn’t make a great deal of difference. My preference, however, is the name brand mixes. I just don’t think the store brand cake mixes work quite as well. For the best results, try Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines or another reputable brand.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes You’ll Love
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Coca Cola Cake
- Texas Sheet Cake
- Triple Layer Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Kit Kat Cake
Butterfinger Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 Box Chocolate Cake Mix
Toppings:
- 1 (14 Ounce) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 (12 Ounce) Jar Caramel Dessert Topping
- 1 (16 Ounce) Container Frozen Whipped Topping Thawed
- 2 (2.1 Ounce) Butterfinger Candy Bars Crushed
Instructions
- Prepare the cake as directed on the back of the box, using ingredients called for (not on above list) in 9X13 inch baking dish.
- While cake is baking, stir together sweetened condensed milk and caramel sauce; set aside.
- Immediately after taking the cake out of the oven, poke holes in the hot cake, 1 inch apart and 1 inch deep. Pour condensed milk/caramel mixture evenly over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.
- Spread whipped topping over cake, then sprinkle top with crushed Butterfinger. Refrigerate until serving.
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Can you add powder sugar to the cool whip to give it more texture.I want to make this.
Hi, Barbara. I’m not sure, sorry I can’t advice.
Made this for work potluck, and everyone loved it. Will definitely be making this again. Cake was easy to make and it was so moist and delicious.
Yaaay! Thank you so much, Abbie! I’m glad it was a hit 🙂
Absolutely love love love this cake!!! It’s so fast and easy to make. Not to mention the fact that it will last for a few days since it’s refrigerated!!! What’s got not to love? Although I’m usually pretty good for rating places, I’ve never rated a recipe or anything else for that matter but when I saw there were no ratings on this, I flipped. No ratings? Really? Regardless of who posted the recipe, the cake is amazing and deserves more than 5 stars!!!
Well now that I’ve commented, I can see everyone’s comments lol my bad!
Hi, Julia! Wow, that’s an honor. I’m so happy you love this cake! One slice is not enough, right? Thank you so much for your review!!
I have a question, do you wait for the cake to cool before you pour the caramel and condensed milk in the holes?
Hi Heather. No you don’t. The cake works best if you pour them, mixed together over the hot cake just out of the oven.
When making the butterfinger poke cake can you use a foil disposable cake pan instead of a glass one
Hi, Diane! Yes, you can use foil instead of glass. Watch it really closely, baking in glass takes longer than metal ones. Hope this helps! Happy baking 🙂
Looks great, what I do differently is split my cake mix in half or use two if there’s a lot of people, I put the condense milk on the bottom half, crush and add 4 to 6 butterfingers on top of the bottom, add the second cake on top of the butterfingers, then the cool whip and more crushed butterfingers, I like the caramel topping addition.
Oooh I would love to give this a try sometime. Thank you for sharing, Beth! 😀
Oh my this is better than well you can guess lol I
I know what you were going to say, JLYNNE! And the funniest thing is that there IS actually a recipe for a cake very similar to this one called “Better Than Sex” Cake. It’s made almost exactly the same it I remember correctly, except I don’t think the BTS cake he’s the sweetened condensed milk on it and has crushed Heath bars rathér than Butterfingers. But now that I’ve found this one it’s out with the old Better Than Sex Cake and onto this one, even though this one has a different name. But I think thi, in MY mind at least, is the new BETTER THAN SEX CAKE!