Candy cake

My son has requested a candy cake for his 5th birthday tomorrow. This boy loves desserts, candy, ice cream... Any kind of dessert really. But he only really eats a few bites and then has had enough. We looked at a bunch of cakes in Pinterest, and when he came across this one, he immediately decided that's what he wanted.

I started with a doctored up 1,2,3,4 cake, following Paula Deen's recipe at a base. Then I added in some sour cream and a box of vanilla pudding. 

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs 
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 small box instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups sifted self-rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans. 
3. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. 
4. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. 
5. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. 
6. Add pudding and sour cream, amd beat until combined. 
7. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. 
8. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. 
9. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. 
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. 
11. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely.

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I used Hershey's chocolate icing for the layers and outside of the cake. Then we covered the sides with kit kats, and poured an entire bag of M&Ms on the top. To.Die.For. This was a huge hit with not just our son, but the entire family!