Been looking for a perfect cake for my boyfriend’s birthday, wanted to make something special, something I know he would really like. And then it hit me: he loves peanut butter! Have to say, it wasn’t the easiest cake I’ve ever made but it was so totally worth the effort. He even decided to freeze few pieces of the cake for undefined ‘later’ what makes me think, maybe he did like the cake.
PEANUT BUTTER BIRTHDAY CAKE
INGREDIENTS
for the cake
3 cups sugar
2 and 2/3 cup good quality wheat flour
1 and 1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup sunflower oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups boiling water
for the cream
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 box cream cheese, room temperature
1tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
4 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup double cream
for the ganache
120g semi-sweet chocolate
120g unsalted butter
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, mini ones for the top and big ones to assemble around the bottom of the cake
Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Grease three round cake tins with butter and parchment for the bottom of the tin.
3. In the large mixing bowl, mix together all the ingredients except boiling water (sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and cocoa powder). Using your electric mixer, beat the mixture until well combined. Add boiling water and beat again, slowly and carefully.
4. Pour the mixture into three previously prepared baking tins, making sure you’re dividing the batter evenly. I didn’t have three tins, so I poured 1/3 of the batter to one tin and 2/3 of the batter to the second tin hoping the second cake will turn out big enough for me to be able to cut in in half. (It was, lucky me ^^ )
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Before taking the cake out of the oven, check with a wooden stick comes out clean. My cakes took longer than 40 minutes because my oven is, well, not very good.
6. Cool the cakes on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then remove them from cake tins and let them cool completely.
Frosting
1. Beat together the butter with cream cheese. And that’s when the whole cake making gets very tricky. It is very likely that while beating the butter and cream cheese together it will curl up, which is the last thing we need (when that happens, all we can do is to throw away the first attempt of combining butter and cream cheese together and start again. Yes, it did happen to me). You have to make sure that: cream and butter are not cool, both room temperature. Beat the butter first, until very light and fluffy. And then, very slowly, spoon by spoon start adding the cream cheese. Slowly. Very slowly and carefully, no chaotic and quick moves with your mixer.
2. When you manage to combine those two together (well done!), add peanut butter and vanilla and beat until well mixed together. And the sugar and cream and mix one more time, until you get a smooth and fluffy cream.
Ganache
2. Add the chocolate (you should break the chocolate into small pieces before you add it to the butter). Stirring all the time, allow the hot butter to melt the chocolate. If you have to, you can heat it again for few second but make sure the mixture won’t boil or stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
3. Set aside and let it cool slightly.
1. When your cakes are cool, we can start putting the whole cake together. Take one of the chocolate cakes and place it on a cake plate.
2. Using a spatula, spread about one cup of the cream over the cake. Cover it with the next cake and spread another cup of frosting. Add the top layer.
5. Put the cake back in the fridge, for at least 20 minutes to chill the cream. Now it’s the time to prepare the ganache.
6. After 20 minutes, take the cake out of the fridge and finish decorating it. Pour slightly cooled ganache on top of the cake, starting in the middle of the cake. Stop pouring when the ganache starts dripping over the sides of the cake.
7. Add some mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups on top of the cake and pour a bit of ganache over it. Cut big Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in half and assemble them around the bottom of the cake. Seems like you have done it!
8. Put the cake in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes and then it will be ready to serve.
aho
Tort urodzinowy z masłem orzechowym
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aho's homemade food 
Looking delectable!
And it sure was delicious ;)
Wow, that just looks amazing! Like a pie from the starbucks counter :D
Love this cake, heaven 😍
Looks delicious. I am sure he loved it.
Superb recipe. Note that the oven temperature is given in degrees Celsius; I baked my cakes for 30 minutes at 350. I also used only 2 cups sugar instead of 3 cups because this whole production is so rich.
Thanks so much! I’m really glad the cake came out nicely, it’s my favourite birthday cake to bake 😁 As for the temperature, yes, it’s Celsius! Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll make sure it’s specified in my recipes! :)