Brian loves Chocolate and Peanut Butter.  Together. Forever.

The last birthday cake I made him was in 2007 (we were in NYC in 2008). I made him this one:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting

Begin preparing the cake one day ahead.  

Filling

2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter 

Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter

1 pound golden brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk 

Frosting

1 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, divided

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Butterfinger candy bars, coarsely chopped

For filling:

Bring cream and sugar to simmer in saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter. Chill uncovered overnight. 

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. 

Divide batter among pans and spread evenly. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely. 

For frosting:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Whisk whipping cream and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in bowl until mixture holds medium-firm peaks. Fold into cream cheese mixture in 3 additions; chill until firm but spreadable, about 1 hour. 

Place 1 cake layer, bottom side up, on 9-inch tart pan bottom. Spread with half of filling. Place another layer, bottom side up, on work surface. Spread with remaining filling; place atop first layer. Top with remaining cake layer, bottom side up. 

Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before continuing.) Press candy onto top of cake. 

Makes 12 servings.

Bon Appétit

Time For Dessert

March 2005

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved

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You can find the recipe on www.epicurious.com, with reviews.  Some of the reviewers claimed the filling was oozy, and I had the opposite problem.  I made the three parts on Friday, and assembled it on Saturday morning.  The filling was so hard I could barely get it out of the bowl.  I worked with it like a modeling clay, and then took a piece of wax paper to gently press it in and make it even for the next section of cake to set on top.

Brian showed me how his mom iced cakes - used a knife and starting from the top.  He was right, this definitely worked better than my rubber spatula.  I have admired those cake spatula at William-Sonoma many times before, but I honestly don’t make cakes like this that often.

I didn’t get a picture of the cake until later, but here it is after 2 days of refrigerator storage (yes, it looked terrible! but it was still good - I recommend microwaving a slice for 30 seconds on a low power before eating it):

And here's the magazine photo:

This year, I made him the Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze from Sky High. I first saw it on the Food Librarian's website, and it's been a popular one!  So popular in fact, I see no reason to transcribe the recipe.  You can check the book out from the Colleyville Library, or google "Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze" and you'll find it over and over again.

Here's Brian's cake!

It was an easy one too... The cake is made in one big bowl.  It was delicious, and I can't wait to try it again!  I'll even use the cake recipe with other frostings!