Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

In honor of the best holiday ever to be made, Cake Day (created by my fabulous fellow book worm friend Linden), Kelley of my achy bakey heart and I teamed up to make a special creation.  Cake Day was earlier this month, and it was quite a celebration.  We lucked out and had some beautiful weather, as the celebration was outdoors at a local park.

Cake Day happens to be a day when you get together with friends or loved ones (or both) and eat cake and just enjoy the day.  Linden has been having Cake Day for over a decade now, and I can understand why her celebration has grown.  There were at least a half a dozen cakes present when Brad and I arrived, and I am proud to say that the cake Kelley and I made was pretty much the fan favorite.

Coming to an agreement on what to bake was a bit of a challenge.  As we all know, I can be picky, and thus wanted to stay away from cakes with fruit.  An additional challenge was a lack of time, as both Kelley and I had full schedules the week before, and ended up making our cake on a Thursday night before the celebration.  After I got my hair cut.  Across town.

We decided to make Bakerella’s peanut butter cup cake, which I had actually made last year for the 4th of July.  So I knew it was a good one.  And easy, because it starts with a boxed mix.  And I knew it was a showstopper, with all those peanut butter cups on top.  Not to mention delicious.

Since Cake Day was outside on a warm day, when we got there the cake was a bit melty.  But oh my goodness, it is SO good melty.  So much so that I would recommend putting your slice in the microwave before eating.  That’s how good it was.

The recipe originally comes from parents.com, of all places.  And as you can see, we followed Bakerella’s lead by going overboard on the peanut butter cups.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

1 box (18.25 ounces) devil’s food cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (we used powdered buttermilk, I swear by the stuff)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped chocolate-covered peanut butter cups (about 8 ounces), plus more to garnish (WAY more to garnish)
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line with waxed paper; coat paper.

In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high; beat for 2 minutes, scraping down side of the bowl after 1 minute. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.  Or if you’re me, you make Kelley beat it by hand.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 34 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let layers cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.

Place chopped dark chocolate in a medium-size bowl. Bring cream just to a boil and pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Again if you’re me, you forget about the heavy cream and let it boil over.

Trim top of cake layers flat with a serrated knife. Put 1 cake layer on cooling rack and place on a baking sheet. Pour 1 cup frosting on top; spread evenly with a spatula. Top with remaining cake layer. Pour remaining frosting over the top, allowing it to spill over the sides. Smooth top and sides with spatula. Refrigerate 1 hour to set. Transfer cake to serving plate and garnish with chopped candy, if desired.

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