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peanut butter and chocolate cake

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

This cake is blissful indulgence. A delicious, rich and decadent cake! The cake itself is very moist and has a deep chocolatey flavor. The frosting has a much desired tanginess provided by the cream cheese. The dark chocolate ganache on top brings sweet, tangy and decadent together in this beautiful creation!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 10 people
Calories 380 kcal

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

  • 221 grams all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups, 7.8 oz
  • 62 grams unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup, 2.1 oz
  • 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 300 grams sugar 1 1/2 cups, 10.5 oz
  • 80 grams canola oil 1/3 cup, 2.8 oz
  • 180 grams milk 3/4 cup, 6.3 oz
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 180 grams hot brewed coffee 3/4 cup, 6.3 oz

Peanut butter frosting

  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 4 oz butter softened (1 stick, 1/2 cup)
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ganache

  • 8 oz good quality semi dark or dark chocolate I used 70% Lindt
  • 8 oz heavy cream

Instructions

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

  1. Notes: If you don’t want to use coffee, you can use boiling water. Just mix 1 teaspoon of espresso powder in with the dry ingredients or skip it all together.
  2. This recipe makes for 3-6” round cakes or 2-8” ones.
  3. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  4. Butter pans and place a parchment paper circle in the bottom of pans. Butter parchment. Set aside.

  5. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder, if using it instead of coffee. Set aside.

  6. Whisk eggs together in a large bowl for about 30 seconds.

  7. Add sugar and keep whisking for about 1 minute, until brightened in color.
  8. Add oil to the bowl. Whisk until combined.
  9. Add milk and vanilla extract.
  10. Pour dry ingredients over wet mixture.
  11. Fold with a spatula slowly, until ingredients are just combined.

  12. If you see big clumps of cocoa powder, you can use the whisk to try to smooth the batter out.

  13. Just make sure you don’t skip step number 5, which is sifting the ingredients in the beginning of the recipe.

  14. Once batter is incorporated, pour hot coffee in the bowl. Whisk until combined.
  15. Batter will be very thin and runny. It’s ok! Totally fine!
  16. Pour evenly onto baking pans.

  17. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-30 min. Baking time will vary according to what size pan you are using. After the 20 minute mark, keep checking regularly, because you don’t want to burn your cakes or overbake them. Remove them from the oven once a toothpick comes our clean once inserted in the cake.

  18. Once you remove it from the oven, wait 10 minutes, flip cakes onto a cookie cooling rack and let cakes cool.

  19. Once cool, wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. I like to leave my layers in the fridge for quite a bit so they can firm up and make it easier to assemble and decorate the cake. Specially an oil based cake such as this one, which is a super moist and fluffy cake.

Peanut butter frosting

  1. Start by creaming 8 oz of cream cheese on medium speed with an electric mixer.
  2. Add butter and beat for another minute.
  3. Beat the cream cheese with the paddle attachment for about 45 seconds.
  4. Add peanut butter and mix on medium speed until combined.
  5. With the mixer on the lowest speed, start adding the sifted powdered sugar in one tablespoon at a time.
  6. Once all powdered sugar has been added and it’s incorporated, turn mixer to medium and cream for about 30 seconds.
  7. Add vanilla extract and mix until combined.
  8. If your frosting seems a bit stiff, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until you achieve desired consistency.
  9. If frosting seems too soft, add a little bit more powdered sugar. Just be aware that the consistency could be too soft also because your butter or cream cheese have softened too much (because it’s too hot in the room, or they’ve been out for too long, etc). In that case, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, insert it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes until butter or cream cheese have hardened a little bit. Then, proceed to cream frosting for a few more seconds before using.

Ganache

  1. Chop chocolate finely.
  2. Heat heavy cream until almost to a boil. Either in the microwave or in a small pot over medium heat.
  3. Pour hot heavy cream over chocolate. Let it sit for 30 seconds.
  4. Start stirring. Stir constantly until all chocolate is melted.
  5. If you notice little chocolate pieces that haven't melted, you can put your ganache in the microwave and microwave it in 10 second increments, stirring in between, until melted. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate. Chocolate hates being overheated.
  6. Once all chocolate pieces have melted, let ganache sit at room temperature until it's drippable consistency, which means not too runny and not too stiff.

To assemble:

  1. You will need about 1/2 cup of simple syrup.
  2. (to make simple syrup, simply boil equal parts of sugar and water together. Let it cool before using.)
  3. Place bottom layer on cake stand. Brush with simple syrup until cake is humid.
  4. Place some of the peanut butter frosting on top. Spread evenly. Top with another layer. Repeat everything, with the simple syrup and filling.
  5. Frost the cake on the outside. You can do a crumb coating before frosting the cake.
  6. A crumb coating is a very thin layer of frosting you spread on the cake to seal the crumbs in. After spreading a thin layer of frosting on the cake, use a spatula to even the frosting out.
  7. Place cake in the refrigerator for an hour or until the frosting on the outside is solid.
  8. Now proceed with frosting the cake with generous amounts of this delicious frosting.
  9. Place ganache in a piping bag and cut a small hole in the tip.
  10. Drizzle ganache around the edges of the cake, so this way it till drip beautifully. Also pour some ganache on top of the cake. If your ganache has the right consistency, you won't have to use a spatula to spread it. Worst case scenario, use a spatula to make sure the entire top of the cake is covered with ganache.
  11. That is not going to ruin the cake, but running a spatula over the ganache is going to leave marks, instead of a beautiful smooth ganache.
  12. Pipe the cake some peanut butter cream cheese frosting decorations on top of the cake and place chopped peanut butter cups on top.
Nutrition Facts
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 380
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.