RICH Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake Recipe
Friends, today as promised, I’m sharing a delicious, RICH Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake Recipe.
I’ve been thinking a lot about chocolate lately, how much I love it, how much I crave it.
I’m really a chocolate lover in many ways. I like mostly all flavors, and I can eat it any time of the day (like this RICH Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake recipe)! Even bitter chocolate seems to serve my palate well.
When I was younger, my young taste buds only loved milk chocolate, but as I’ve matured, my tastes are more sophisticated now. (Yay, for growing up!)
Chocolate and peanut butter? LOVE this combo!
The perfect cake to serve a crowd for a dinner party! It’s rich, so you can cut skinny pieces … or not. :)
Which brings me to some thoughts on bitter chocolate, a not-so-sweet kind of chocolate. I think about a book that impacted me years ago, that I’ve recently dusted off the shelf, and just bought a copy for a friend.
Shauna wrote Bittersweet really well, because I think all age groups of women can resonate with her message.
-The idea of Bittersweet is changing the way I live, unraveling and re-weaving the way I understand life. Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a moment of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich even when it contains a splinter of sadness. It’s the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, audacious, earthy.-
Which brings me to why I love this book. We’re enouraged to walk closely with the people we love, people we respect and can learn from. People who encourage us to know that God is good and life is an adventure. It’s not about living in the past, it’s not always “safe,” it can be risky, but it requires living honestly. Living in the moment, and being present with our feelings and relationships.
It’s about change, forgiveness, and moving forward.
RICH Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake Recipe
Now for a slice of this RICH Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake recipe! And thank you, Leeah, who recently made Paul this cake for his birthday! So sweet!
A sinfully rich three-layer chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, chopped peanut butter cups and a chocolate ganache!
Enjoy a hearty piece!
This recipe is adapted from my friend Michelle at Browneyed Baker, made for one of our dinner parties.
Get the Recipe:
RICH Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cake:
- 2½ cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1½ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1½ cups strong black coffee, hot
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 4½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the Peanut Butter Frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- For the Chocolate Ganache + Candies:
- 2 cups chocolate, finely chopped
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 30 miniature peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped, divided
Instructions
- CAKE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, lining the bottoms with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and sides; set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing for 2-3 minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans. Bake for 20 minutes. Continue to bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs), about 12 more minutes.
- Cool the cakes for 15 minutes; carefully turn them out onto cooling racks to completely cool.
- If the cakes baked have a domed top, level off the tops with a knife. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Cover with 1 cup of the peanut butter frosting and sprinkle 10 of the chopped peanut butter cups over the frosting.
- Place on top the second cake layer and cover with another 1 cup of the peanut butter frosting, with 10 chopped peanut butter cups.
- Place the final cake layer on top face-down (flat edge facing up), and frost with the remaining peanut butter frosting, finishing it as smoothly as possible.
- Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour, until the frosting is set.
- PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING: In a large bowl add the powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt; mix on medium-low speed until creamy. Add the heavy cream and beat on high speed, until the mixture is light and smooth.
- CHOCOLATE GANACHE: Chop the chocolate into small pieces so it will melt easily and evenly, and place in a small bowl. Place the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and warm until it just comes to a boil.
- Pour the nearly boiled cream over the chocoalte and allow to sit for a couple of minutes; stir until melted and smooth.
- Set aside to cool, whisking occasionally, until it has thickened slightly, but not firm (you want it pourable over the cake).
- Pour the chocolate ganache into the center of the cake, letting it run over the sides of the cake. Top with the remaining 10 chopped peanut butter cups.
- SERVING: Refrigerate the cake before serving, allowing the ganache a chance to set up. Slice and serve!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
Oh goodness….I love me some chocolate and peanut butter! I also love that quote. It’s so good. I need to get a few of her books.