Snowball Cake

Bring back school lunch memories with this chocolate snowball cake! Baked in a glass bowl, this round cake is covered with pudding frosting and coconut.

Have you tried our icebox snowball cake yet? It’s a light, sweet cake with coconut topping. It’s easy and delicious!

Today we’re sharing a different version of a snowball cake. This one will take you back to your school lunchroom. It’s a recreation of the famous snowball snack cakes you know and love!

snowball cake with one slice missing

What is a snowball cake?

A snowball cake is a cake that is baked in a bowl. After you bake the cake you turn it out onto a plate so it looks like a dome. You’ll frost the cake with a fluffy pudding frosting and cover it with coconut. This makes it look like a snowball!

This cake is fashioned after the classic Hostess Sno Ball snack cakes. This makes a grown-up size version. A whole cake that you can share with your friends if you’d like!

How to Make Snowball Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 2 ½ quart oven safe bowl. We use a Pyrex glass bowl because they are oven safe.
  • In a separate bowl, prepare cake batter according to the package directions. Every brand of box mix tends to be different so follow the instructions on your box.
ingredients for chocolate cake in a mixing bowl
  • Pour the batter into the prepared bowl.
chocolate cake batter pouring into a pan
  • In another small bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg and sugar until well blended, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
unmixed cream cheese filling for cake
  • Spoon this mixture into the center of the batter in the bowl, leaving about 2” of chocolate batter around the edges.
cake batter with cream cheese filling on top
  • Bake 65-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for about an hour, then loosen cake from bowl with knife. (Note…don’t turn out the cake too soon. The cream cheese takes time to cool and set.)
  • Invert the cake onto a cake plate and remove the bowl to cool completely. If the cake sticks at all, you can piece it together carefully. Once you frost the cake, no one will know!
  • For the frosting, beat dry pudding mix, powdered sugar and milk in medium bowl until smooth. Stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate the frosting until the cake is cool and you are ready to frost the cake.
snowball cake frosting in a mixing bowl
  • Once the cake is cool, frost with pudding frosting. Sprinkle coconut all over the cake.
frosting a chocolate snowball cake

How do I keep the cake from sticking to the bowl?

It can seem odd to bake this cake in a glass bowl. What happens if the cake sticks?

To help prevent the cake from sticking, use our cake release recipe. It works beautifully! If you can’t use this, grease the bowl with shortening, then dust the bowl with flour.

If the cake sticks a little bit, you can usually piece it together before frosting and no one will be able to tell the difference.

A piece of chocolate cake on a plate, with Cream cheese and coconut frosting

Can you tint the frosting pink?

Yes! On traditional Sno Ball Cakes, the frosting is pink. You can do one of two things:

  • Tint the frosting itself pink. This will just take a drop or two of food coloring.
  • Place the coconut in a bowl and add a few drops of pink food coloring. Toss the coconut together with the food coloring until the coconut is tinted the color you’d like.

How to Store Snowball Cake

You’ll want to store this cake in the refrigerator because of the milk based frosting and cream cheese based filling. Make sure the cake is in an airtight container.

frosted Snowball Cake with one slice on a spatula

Other Chocolate Cake Recipes

A piece of chocolate cake on a plate, with Cream cheese and coconut frosting
A piece of chocolate cake on a plate, with Cream cheese and coconut frosting

Snowball Cake

4.34 from 9 votes
Bring back school lunch memories with this chocolate snowball cake! Baked in a glass bowl, this round cake is covered with pudding frosting and coconut.
Servings 12
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Equipment

Ingredients
 

For the cake:

  • 1 18.25 ounce package devil's food cake mix (plus ingredients on the back of the box)

For the filling:

For the frosting:

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 2 ½ quart oven safe bowl.
  • In a separate bowl, prepare cake batter according to the package directions.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared bowl.
  • In another small bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg and sugar until well blended, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Spoon this mixture into the center of the batter in the bowl, leaving about 2” of chocolate batter around the edges.
  • Bake 65-70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for about an hour, then loosen cake from bowl with knife. (Note…don’t turn out the cake too soon. The cream cheese takes time to cool and set.)
  • Invert the cake onto a cake plate and remove the bowl to cool completely.
  • For the frosting, beat dry pudding mix, powdered sugar and milk in medium bowl until smooth. Stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate the frosting until the cake is cool and you are ready to frost the cake.
  • Once the cake is cool, frost with pudding frosting. Sprinkle coconut all over the cake.
  • Store the cake covered in the refrigerator.

Notes

The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 12 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**

Nutrition

Calories: 336kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 407mg | Potassium: 223mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 326IU | Calcium: 113mg | Iron: 2mg
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Calories 336
Keyword chocolate cake, easy cake recipe, old fashioned cake
snowball cake title image

About Julie Clark

We are Julie, Maddie, and Kinslee – a mother and daughter team sharing with you the best cakes to satisfy any need or sweet craving that you may have. Welcome to our family’s kitchen!

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