Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

This past week was my husband Marc’s birthday and we had a great celebration with friends at our house this weekend! We capped it off with this incredibly decadent chocolate peanut butter cake. This was actually the first birthday cake I ever made for him since normally he just likes a low key dinner out so I was so incredibly nervous about getting it right. I already mentioned that his favorite flavor combination in the world is chocolate and peanut butter when I made him these awesome cookies. When I decided to make him a cake, it had to be chocolate and peanut butter!

This decadent chocolate peanut butter cake had serious wow factor and my wonderful hubby was thrilled! It was so great seeing his face when I walked in with it all lit up with candles. Our friends that were there are all great singers, so it was a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday as I brought out the cake! This was the perfect birthday cake for Marc and it ended the evening on such a sweet note. Enjoy, friends. xoxo

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Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr 40 mins

 

Course: Dessert

Servings: 1 cake

Author: Jeanie and Lulu's Kitchen

Ingredients

FOR THE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CAKE

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 sticks unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

FOR THE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• dry roasted peanuts coarsely chopped, as needed for sprinkling the middle and on top
• mini peanut butter cups as needed for decorating the border of the cake

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Take two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a round piece of parchment paper. Spray each pan liberally with cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together to aerate them. Set it aside. Combine the chocolate and peanut butter in a bowl and microwave it until completely melted. Check it every 30 seconds. In my microwave it took 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir it together to make it into a silky and shiny ganache. Set it aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together. Let it become a fluffy base for 2 minutes. Add each egg and egg yolk in one at a time. Then add the vanilla. Turn the speed to low and slowly add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by 1/2 of the buttermilk. Repeat with the next 1/3 of the dry ingredients and the remaining buttermilk. Finish with the last of the dry ingredients until it is a uniform batter. Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate peanut butter ganache to finish it. Evenly divide the batter among the two prepared cake pans and bake them for 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, make the frosting. In a heat-proof bowl combine the chocolate, peanut butter, brown sugar and buttermilk. Put the bowl over a small pot of simmering water on the stove (without the water touching the bottom of the bowl) to make a double boiler. Let it all melt together, occasionally stirring with a heat-proof rubber spatula until it is smooth and shiny. Take it off the heat and let it cool slightly.
4. In the bowl of the stand mixer beat the butter until it is creamy and fluffy with the paddle attachment. Add in the chocolate peanut butter mixture and the pinch of salt. Then just slowly add in the powdered sugar until you have a luscious chocolate peanut butter frosting. Set the frosting aside.
5. When the 30 minutes is up, test whether the cakes are baked through by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, they're good to go! Let them cool in the pans for 30 minutes and start to pull away from the sides. Place a dinner plate face down on top of each cake pan and carefully flip both pans over to turn out the cakes. Let them finish cooling on the plates for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Slide the first layer onto a cake plate and spread a generous layer of frosting on it with an offset spatula. Sprinkle some of the chopped roasted peanut on top of the frosting for some great crunch in the middle. Place the second layer on top and press down gently to really adhere them both together. Frost the tops and sides of the cake completely to cover it with an offset spatula. Sprinkle more chopped roasted peanuts on top and line the edge with mini peanut butter cups. Slice and serve!

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