Bumpy cake is a Detroit chocolate cake with parallel ridges of buttercream piped on top, then covered in a dark chocolate ganache that flows around the bumps.

Sanders Confectionery on Woodward and Gratiot in downtown Detroit made the first bumpy cake in 1913, when bakery owner Fred Sanders piped buttercream stripes onto a devil's food cake and topped them with ganache. The shape comes from how the ganache flows around the buttercream ridges. Sanders sold at 57 retail stores at peak in the 1950s, and is now part of Morley Candy Makers in Clinton Township. Bumpy cake is the canonical Michigan birthday cake.

Where to eat Bumpy cake in Detroit

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Make it at home

Serves 123 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 250g all-purpose flour
  • 100g cocoa powder
  • 400g sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 250ml buttermilk
  • 250ml hot brewed coffee
  • 125ml neutral oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • For the buttercream: 250g butter, 500g powdered sugar, 60ml cream
  • For the ganache: 300g dark chocolate, 300ml cream

Method

  1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch pan.
  2. Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk wet ingredients separately, then combine until smooth.
  3. Pour into the pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely.
  4. Beat butter and powdered sugar with cream until light. Transfer to a piping bag.
  5. Pipe parallel ridges of buttercream across the cake, leaving 1 inch between each ridge.
  6. Heat cream just to a simmer; pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth.
  7. Pour the ganache over the top, letting it flow around the buttercream ridges. The bumps stay raised.
  8. Refrigerate 30 minutes to set.

Editor tip. The ganache must be warm enough to flow but not so hot it melts the buttercream. Pour from a height for the ridges to stay sharp.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg.