How to Make an Ant House Cake

When my brothers and I were little, my mom loved to bake what we Brazilians call Ant House Cake. To make it, she added chocolate sprinkles and shredded coconut to a basic white cake batter. Once baked, the look of the melted sprinkles resembles the tracks ants make inside an ant house. And the texture added by the coconut makes you really believe you are eating a bunch of ants! 

I still remember standing on a stool in the kitchen watching my mom add chocolate sprinkles to the batter and really believing they were ants. Today, my kids do the same thing. And every time I bake this cake, they spend days talking about the Ant House Cake! 

To dress up this cake for a special occasion, I added a chocolate mascarpone filling and covered the entire cake with chocolate sprinkles. 

With a spatula, I fold in coconut and sprinkles to a white cake mix. This prevents the chocolate sprinkles from breaking. Divide the batter into two 9-inch round pans and bake.

To make the filling, melt good-quality dark chocolate in a double boiler. I also whisk in a little bit of espresso powder to bring out the flavors of the chocolate.

With the paddle attachment of my standing mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract on low speed.

Once that mixture is smooth, gently add the cooled melted chocolate and continue to beat on low speed.

Fill and frost the cake with the mascarpone-chocolate mixture.

Place the cake stand inside a large and deep platter to catch all the sprinkles that fall.

I use my hands to completely cover the cake with little “ants”.

Remove excess sprinkles from the sides of the cake stand.

Here is how the cake will look outside:

And here is the cake inside:

This cake will give your kids (and their friends) something to talk about!