Disclosure: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links and if you go via these links to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I have linked these products because I have tried and would thoroughly recommend them, not because of any commission I may receive. Whether you act on this recommendation or not is completely up to you. Check out my Disclaimer for more information.
I have been dreaming about Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake for the past month now and have finally had the chance to get into the kitchen and conjure up a recipe for it. I don’t know why I started thinking about this cake, but I must have been inspired somewhere and then I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I took some inspiration from my Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe, the Bake Off box’s Signature Chocolate Cake and added some peanut butter to my buttercream recipe and bob’s your uncle – Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake.
What are the components of the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake?
This Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake recipe has three main components: a fudgy chocolate cake, a peanut butter buttercream and a rich chocolate ganache coating.
THE CHOCOLATE CAKE
The chocolate cake follows a very easy all-in-one method, where all ingredients are added and mixed together in one go. You will need two 20cm sandwich tins (like these ones) to make the cake, or you could use one deep 20cm tin and then cut the cake in half. If you use a deeper tin, you will have to bake the cake for longer, probably around 40-50 minutes. If the cake is getting too brown on the top but is not yet baked in the middle, simply cover the top with tinfoil to prevent the cake from burning and continue to bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM
To sandwich the two cakes together and decorate the cake, I put a twist on the classic buttercream and flavoured it with peanut butter. Instead of just combining butter and icing sugar, I first creamed together the butter with some peanut butter, before adding the icing sugar. I used smooth peanut butter with 100% peanuts. This recipe also uses a reduced amount of icing sugar so that the buttercream doesn’t end up being too sweet.
Make sure to reserve around ¼ of the buttercream to pipe rosettes on top of the cake to decorate. The remaining buttercream is used to sandwich the two cakes together, but also to create a crumb coat around the top and sides of the cake. This will trap and crumbs and make sure the edges of the cake are smooth before you pour over the chocolate ganache.
DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE
Making chocolate ganache is super easy and can give your cake a stunning, glossy finish! All it is, is a mixture of double cream and chocolate, and I would recommend using dark chocolate with at least 54% or 72% cocoa solids.
Make sure to chop the chocolate quite finely to help the melting, then add it to a heatproof bowl and set aside. You then need to gently warm the double cream until just below boiling point, and then pour it over the chocolate. I usually place a dinner plate over the bowl to trap the heat and help the melting, and after a minute you will see that the chocolate has melted and you can stir it into a thick, glossy ganache. You then need to leave the ganache to cool at room temperature until it has thickened slightly and can be spread over the cake.
FOR THE DECORATING
Like I said previously, roughly a quarter of the peanut butter buttercream is used to decorate the top of the cake. I used it to pipe 12 rosettes on top of the cake, but if you’d prefer not to you can add more buttercream in between the cakes or just keep it separate and serve it on the side with the peanut butter and chocolate cake.
Finally, I also used some chocolate-covered peanuts to decorate the cake which added a nice bit of additional crunch and peanut flavour to this bake. You could also use some chocolate shavings, chocolate curls, or chocolate sprinkles to decorate this cake, it is completely up to you!
More yummy Cake Recipes
I love baking cakes, and I have a lot more yummy cake recipes on my blog! Below I have listed a few of my favourite ones, so make sure to go and check those ones out, too!
- GBBO Signature Chocolate Cake | Bake Off Box #1
- Mary Berry’s Lemon Drizzle Cake
- German Black Forest Gâteau | Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte
- Spiced Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- Honeycomb Cake with Apricot and Mascarpone Cream
- Butterscotch Traybake
- Sticky Toffee Cake with Pecan Praline
- Prue’s Prinzregententorte | Bake Off Technical Challenge
- Frosted Walnut Layer Cake
- Spiced Almond and Marzipan Cake
- Checkerboard Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
- 50g cocoa powder, sifted
- 6 tbsp boiling water
- 175g self-raising flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 275g caster sugar
- 50mL milk
- 100g butter, softened
- 3 L eggs
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
- 150g smooth peanut butter (100% peanuts)
- 200g butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150g icing sugar
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- 120g dark chocolate (72% cocoa solids)
- 150g double cream
TO FINISH:
- Chocolate-covered peanuts
- Grated chocolate/chocolate shavings (optional)
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- 2x 20cm round sandwich tins
- mixing bowl
- hand-held or free-standing electric mixer
- heatproof bowl
- piping bag fitted with a star nozzle
Methods:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease two sandwich tins with some melted butter and line the base with baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder and boiling water to make a chocolatey paste/sauce. Then add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl and beat with an electric hand-held or free-standing mixer for about a minute until smooth.
- Evenly distribute the cake mix between the two prepared tins, then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until well-risen, springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Set on a wire rack and leave the cakes in the tins until cooled completely.
- In the meantime, prepare the peanut butter buttercream. Put the softened butter and peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand-held or free-standing mixer for about 3-4 minutes until very smooth and airy. Then beat in the vanilla extract.
- Gradually add in the icing sugar, 1-2 heaped tbsp at a time until the buttercream is smooth. Set aside roughly ¼ of the icing for decorating.
- Remove the cakes from their tins and carefully peel of the baking parchment. For a perfect looking end result, use a sharp knife to trim the top of the cakes to make sure they are perfectly level.
- Place one cake onto a serving plate/turntable and spoon about half of the remaining peanut butter buttercream on top. Use a palette knife to spread it over the cake in an even layer, before placing the second cake on top with the bottom of the cake facing up.
- Spoon the remaining buttercream onto the cake and use the palette knife to spread the buttercream all around the sides and top of the cake to create a coat of buttercream. Make sure all the sides and the top are smooth as the ganache will later go on top of this.
- Put the cake in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to allow the buttercream to firm up. Spoon the buttercream you reserved for the decoration into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle and place the piping bag in the fridge, too.
- In the meantime, prepare the dark chocolate ganache. Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces and add it to a heatproof bowl. Pour the double cream into a saucepan and gently warm until just below boiling point, then pour over the chocolate. Place a large dinner plate on the bowl to cover it and trap some of the heat and leave for 1 minute.
- Remove the plate and use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix everything together until all of the chocolate has completely melted and the ganache is thick and smooth. Leave the ganache at room temperature until it has cooled slightly and thickened to reach a spreadable consistency.
- Remove the peanut butter and chocolate cake from the fridge and use a palette knife to spread the chocolate ganache over the top and sides of the cake until completely covered.
- Leave for a few minutes until the ganache is semi-set, then pipe rosettes of the buttercream around the top edge of the cake.
- Finally, decorate the cake with some chocolate-covered peanuts (or any other decoration of your choice) and leave at room temperature for around 30 minutes until the ganache has completely set before serving.
