Description
An easy chocolate cake recipe with a creamy peanut butter frosting that’s to die for, topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE CAKE
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE ICING
- 10 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE ICING
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 8-oz block cream cheese
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder (I prefer Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 3–5 tablespoons water, depending on consistency
DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE
NOTE: You’ll need 2 recipes worth. One for the layers inside the cake and one to pour over the top of the cake. You could easily forgo the ganache altogether though if you wanted a slightly less rich cake.
- 8 oz dark chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s special dark)
- 8 oz heavy cream
ADDITIONAL
- half a bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped
Instructions
CHOCOLATE CAKE:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
1. Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and combine.
2. Add eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients.
3. Add vanilla to boiling water and add to mixture.
4. Mix at medium speed.
5. Pour into 2 8-inch pans and bake 1 hour.
6. Once cooled, slice each cake in half to get 4 total layers of cake.
PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE ICING:
1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Add the peanut butter and beat until well blended.
CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CREAM CHEESE ICING:
1. Beat the butter, shortening and cream cheese and mix well.
2. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Add the cocoa and peanut butter and beat until well blended.
4. Add final 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Add a tablespoon of water at a time, mixing well after each, until you have a nice consistency for icing the outside of the cake.
DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
1. Place dark chocolate chips in a bowl.
2. Microwave heavy cream until it simmers.
3. Pour heavy cream into bowl with chocolate. Immediately cover with saran wrap and allow to sit for about 7 minutes.
4. Whisk until smooth.
For the inside of the cake, you’ll want a thick, spreadable ganache. For that, refrigerate the ganache for a few hours, or overnight.
For pouring over the cake, you’ll want it to be only slightly thickened. If too thin, it will just pour down the sides. If too thick, it won’t pour. I refrigerated mine for about 5-10 minutes before pouring over the cake.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
1. Spread about a third of the Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing onto the first layer of chocolate cake.
2. Top with a thin layer of Dark Chocolate Ganache.
3. Add next layer of chocolate cake.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have all three filling layers complete.
5. Ice the outside of the cake with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing.
6. Pour the dark chocolate ganache over the top the of the cake.
7. Pile on the Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Get a big glass of milk and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 1598
- Sugar: 137.3 g
- Sodium: 602.4 mg
- Fat: 101.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 168.7 g
- Protein: 15.4 g
- Cholesterol: 158.1 mg
