This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake reminds me of one of the first cakes I ever made for Emery. When we started dating, I wanted to “WOW” him with my baking skills, so I made him a chocolate peanut butter cake. I picked this cake for two reasons 1) it was one of his favorite flavor combinations, and 2) even if it wasn’t one of his favorite flavors, it was going to be…LOL! You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter. It was his birthday; I made the cake and showed up at his work to give it to him. One of the few times I attempted to be romantic. When I presented the cake to him, he couldn’t have been happier! The cake was perfect. It looked beautiful, and it tasted even better.
It makes me smile to think that a cake can bring back such a fond memory. That is one of the reasons I love baking. You never know when something is going to make a lasting impression on someone or yourself. Maybe this chocolate peanut butter cake will make a lasting impression on someone special in your life.
Start by making the peanut butter icing. The longer this icing gets to sit, the lighter and fluffier it tastes. I usually make it a day ahead and leave it to sit on the counter overnight. But no worries, if you don’t have time to make it that far in advance, it will still taste great.
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The cake is pretty simple. Place your wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls. Mix the wet ingredients, and then add your dry slowing as you stir. I did not use an electric mixer for this cake; I mixed everything with a whisk. If you do use an electric mixer, do so at low speed.
Once the batter has been thoroughly mixed, place it in two 9″ round cake pans that have been sprayed with non-stick release spray and then lightly floured. Bake cake at 350° for 22-25 minutes.
Let cake cool completely, and then remove from pans—cut cakes in half and layer with peanut butter icing in between each layer. I only did three layers for my cake, but you can do 4 if you would like. Once all of your layers are assembled, ice the cake with a crumb layer first. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before doing the finishing icing.
I placed peanut butter cup candies on the cake for decoration, but that is optional.
The cake will serve 8 to 10 people. Cut, fit, and Enjoy.
Happy Baking!!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 3 C Flour
- 1/2 C Cocoa
- 2 C Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 C Water
Peanut Butter Icing
- 14 oz Butter softened
- 4 oz Margarine
- 4 oz Shortening
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 to 2 Cups Peanut Butter depends on how strong of Peanut Butter flavor you want
- 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Prepare Icing 24 hours ahead of time if possible
- Cream together margarine, shortening, and butter, and vanilla
- Add powdered sugar, then Peanut Butter. Mix 3 to 5 minutes on medium speed
- If you are making it ahead of time, cover it with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature
- For the cake, separate the wet and dry ingredients into two different bowls
- Mix the wet ingredients with a whisk, then slowly add the dry ingredients
- If you are using a mixer blend on a slow speed
- Once the butter is thoroughly incorporated, divide evenly and pour into two 9″ pans that are greased with non-stick release spray and dusted with flour.
- Bake at 350° for 22-25 minutes
- Once cakes have cooled completely, cut layers in half and put the icing in between all layers
- I made this a three-layer cake, but you can make it a four-layer cake if you want
- Ice the outside of the cake with a thin layer of icing first and place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to set the crumbs
- Then ice the cake with a finishing layer of icing
- Place Peanut Butter cups on the cake for decoration if desired
