Tandy Cake

Second only to Pennsylvanians’ love for their favorite sports teams is their love for the regional cuisine. From Amish bakes to Philly cheesesteaks, mystery-meat scrapple and Irish potato candies (with zero ties to the Emerald Isle), the list goes on. However, the packaged snacks from Tastykake might rule them all, the brand having imprinted its legend on the residents of Pennsylvania and neighboring states for over 100 years.

Tastykake is a brand similar to Hostess. The brand has its own line of iconic snacking cakes, but the most popular snack is their Kandy Kakes, formerly known as Tandy Cakes. Before the name change, Tandy Cakes, also written as Tandy Kakes, were so popular that bakers tried to re-create them at home. As such, the homemade tandy cake recipe was born. Here’s our recipe that makes a spot-on copycat version of the classic.

What are Tandy Cakes?

Tandy Cakes are a packaged sweet snack cake from the popular brand Tastykake. Tandy Cakes, which are now called Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes or just Kandy Kakes, have a round sponge cake base that’s topped with peanut butter and enrobed in chocolate.

Ingredients for Tandy Cake

• Eggs: Bring four eggs to room temperature by taking them out of the fridge 30 minutes before starting the recipe. Or, submerge them in warm (not hot!) water for 10 minutes.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar works best here as we want a light-colored batter and gentle sweetness. Brown sugar may discolor the batter, and the caramel-molasses notes won’t pair well with the other layers.
• Milk: While we suggest 2% milk, feel free to use skim or whole milk, heavy whipping cream or a nondairy milk alternative.
• Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract boosts the sweetness and ties all the ingredients together with its delicate, floral aroma.
• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has the perfect amount of gluten for a sponge cake: enough to make the cake strong and bouncy while maintaining a tender crumb.
• Baking powder: Baking powder helps the cake rise nice and tall.
• Creamy peanut butter: Since it’s such a main ingredient, spring for the best peanut butter. We recommend a creamy, no-stir peanut butter for this layer.
• Milk chocolate bars: Milk chocolate bars, like Hershey’s, will melt down for the yummy chocolate topping. You may use semisweet or dark chocolate here if you prefer.
• Butter: Butter makes the chocolate topping viscous and glossy.

Directions

Step 1: Beat the eggs and sugar

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Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in the 2% milk and vanilla.

Step 2: Make the batter

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In another bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat well.

Step 3: Bake the cake

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Spread the cake batter evenly into a greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Slide the pan in the oven and bake the cake until is lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Pull the pan out of the oven and let it cool at room temperature for 15 minutes on a wire rack.

Step 4: Add the peanut butter

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Evenly spread the peanut butter over the top of the slightly warm cake. Let the cake cool completely.

Step 5: Finish with the chocolate layer

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While the cake is cooling, set up a double boiler or metal bowl over simmering water. Place the chocolate in the bowl and melt it with the butter, stirring until it’s smooth.

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Gently spread the chocolate mixture over the peanut butter. Refrigerate the cake until the chocolate topping is firm, about 30 minutes.

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Recipe Variations

• Try another nut butter: Not a peanut butter fan? Try another nut butter, like almond, pistachio or hazelnut butter.
• Bake a different cake base: Tandy cakes have a spongey-textured cake base. If that’s too dry for your liking, try yellow cake instead.
• Finish with Maldon salt: Give the cake contrast and complexity by finishing the top with a light sprinkle of Maldon salt.

How to Store Tandy Cake

Store any tandy cake recipe leftovers in the fridge for up to five days. Wrap the cake tightly in storage wrap, then transfer it to an airtight container. The double cover will prevent the cake from drying out.

Can you make tandy cake ahead of time?

Tandy cake is best eaten the day it’s made. It must be stored in the fridge, but the fridge dries out the cake a little bit every day. If you really need to make it ahead of time, I recommend making it at most four hours before serving.

Tandy Cake Tips

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Can you bake the cake in a jelly-roll pan?

Yes, in fact you should bake tandy cake in a jelly-roll pan. A jelly-roll pan is 15x10x1 inches, which is what we recommend in our tandy cake recipe.

Why is my cake dry?

Tandy cake is supposed to mimic Tastykake’s Kandy Kake treat, which is a sponge cake layered with peanut butter and chocolate. Sponge cake is drier than regular cake, and since we wanted to create a recipe as close to a Kandy Kake as possible, we made sure our recipe had a sponge cake base.

If the cake is even too dry for a sponge cake, you may have used too much flour or overbaked the cake. Measure the flour properly using the scoop and scrape method, and bake the cake just until the cake is lightly browned and springs back when touched.

How do you serve tandy cake?

Serve tandy cake chilled from the fridge. It’s lovely with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, a mug of coffee or hot cocoa, or after-dinner drinks like dessert wine.