Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

A slice of peanut butter chocolate cake on a small plate.

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5 from 3 votes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

A super moist and rich chocolate cake with a peanut butter filling and a chocolate ganache frosting.

Prep Time40

Cook Time40

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 1053kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

¾ cup cocoa powder dutch processed
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cups very hot water

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

2 ¼ cups heavy cream
18 oz dark chocolate chopped
pinch salt

Peanut Butter Frosting

⅔ cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream cold
1½ cups cream cheese cold
1 cup smooth peanut butter

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Chocolate Ganache

Because the ganache takes a few hours to set, I recommend doing this step first. Chop up your chocolate and place in a large bowl.
18 oz dark chocolate
Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Make sure it does not boil! I've found while testing that using the microwave makes the cream too hot.
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes.
Stir the chocolate and cream mixture with a rubber spatula until completely smooth, then stir in the salt.
pinch salt
Let sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours until set. I recommend while it sets you make the cake and the frosting, then come back to the next step when ready to assemble the cake.
Once the ganache has set and is firm but still soft, use a handheld electric mixer to whisk until light and fluffy.

Chocolate Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and then line with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl with a whisk.
¾ cup cocoa powder, 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder
In a large jug, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 large eggs, 1 cup buttermilk, ½ cup vegetable oil
Slowly pour in the ingredients from the large jug and mix until just combined.
Slowly add the hot water and mix. Your batter will be very thin and it makes a lot of cake batter!
1 cups very hot water
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Peanut Butter Frosting

In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, whisk the heavy cream, salt, sugar and vanilla on medium-low for 2 minutes. The sugar needs to have completely dissolved.
⅔ cup granulated sugar, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup heavy cream
Increase the speed to high and whisk for 2 minutes, until it looks very thick like Greek yogurt.
Add the cream cheese and the peanut butter. Turn the speed to high, and whip for 3 minutes until smooth.
1½ cups cream cheese, 1 cup smooth peanut butter

Assemble

Place one cake layer down. Cover the top with peanut butter frosting. Place the second cake layer on top. Cover the sides and top with the whipped chocolate ganache. Use leftover peanut butter cream cheese frosting to pipe a border along the cake! I finished it off with mini peanut butter cups.

Notes

My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven't tested the recipe with this method.

Ingredients: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.

Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. Please note, I'm using Diamond Crystal kosher salt and not Morton salt which is too salty!

Cocoa Powder: I'm using dutch processed cocoa powder (not sure what you have? Check the ingredients. If it says 'acidity regulator' or mentions 'alkali', then it's dutch processed).

Storage: Store the cake in the fridge for 3-4 days. I recommend letting it come to room temperature before enjoying!

Nutrition