Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

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Photo: Smitten Kitchen

Another back-log.

I don't remember how I came up with this one. Well, I didn't come up with it, but when I was thinking of a birthday cake to make someone, I suddenly had a thought of making a peanut butter cup cake. I did a search online and found TONS of peanut butter cake recipes. I looked through a few and tried one out and it was amaaaazing. Loved it! I added a bit of coffee to add depth and bitterness to my cake and it went so well with the sweet, creamy peanut butter frosting. Yum! So here's the recipe, taken from Smitten Kitchen.

Chocolate cake (makes two 8" or 9" layers):

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup yogurt (original recipe calls for sour cream)
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tb distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tb strongly brewed coffee 
2 eggs

Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 8oz. package (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
8Tb (100g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups (450g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup (175g) smooth peanut butter

Peanut Butter Chocolate Glaze

8oz (227g) dark chocolate
3Tb smooth peanut butter
2Tb light corn syrup (homemade corn syrup recipe)
1/4 cup (60mL) milk
1/4 cup (60mL) cream

To Make:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180℃). Spray or butter/flour the cake pans. Line the outside of the pan with bake even strips. [see the Chocolate Stout Cake recipe for homemade versions of these].

2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually whisk in the water, followed by the vinegar, vanilla and coffee. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour equally into the pans and bake for about 30-35min.

3. When your cake is done, let it completely cool [see the Chocolate Stout cake recipe for instructions on how to check if your cake is done]. After they have completely cooled, line with wax paper or parchment and seal with foil, then place in the freezer for at least 30min. to firm up.

4. While the cake is chilling, make the frosting. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Only use your electric mixer in this step if you are using a deep bowl, otherwise powdered sugar will go flying everywhere. If you don't have a deep bowl, I would recommend adding the sugar by hand (with a wooden spoon). Once the sugar is incorporated, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Finally, add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

5. Remove your cake and spread a crumb coat, then cover with the final layer after the crumb coat has set. Put in the fridge to chill again, so it doesn't melt when you finally put on the chocolate glaze. 

6. While the cake is chilling, prepare the glaze. Put all ingredients in a microwave safe, medium sized bowl and heat 30 seconds at a time, until completely melted. Stir the ingredients well between each heating to make sure the heat is evenly distributed. This will take about 2-3 minutes of heating. Be careful not to heat too long, or your chocolate will burn.

7. Pull out your frosted cake and place over some wax paper or baking sheet, to catch any of the dripping chocolate. Then just pour away! If the chocolate isn't spreading evenly over the top of the cake, use an offset spatula to spread. Make sure to do this quickly, because the chocolate will start to harden over the chilled peanut butter. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 30 minutes to allow everything to set. You can serve it just like this, or add some crushed nuts or leftover peanut butter frosting swirls on top. Here are a couple examples of what I did before.

This is what happens when you burn chocolate. I overcooked the chocolate a tad, so it got grainy on me. It's ok though. I covered it with some oreo crumbs and homemade fondant.

I again tried to make the glaze cover the cake perfectly. It looks better all dripping over. I couldn't think of how to decorate it, so I put on some fresh flowers [!! if you use flowers, make sure they aren't chemically treated, or your frosting is going to taste funky -- and probably not be too good for consumption]