Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Yesterday was my daughters 15th birthday! I had grand plans for her birthday cake but I was pretty much shot down at every corner.

“Just make cupcakes, mom” is what I kept hearing. Doesn’t she know I’m a food blogger who loves to bake the sweet treats?

I was thinking of a Zebra Cake  to look like this or maybe this cute little hand bag purse cake. But, it didn’t go my way.

When I first saw this sweet little cake at Bakerella, I knew I had to make it someday. I guess I got lucky, the brat  darling daughter agreed to it. A six inch  Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups chopped up in the batter with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache for the frosting. And of course another umpteen PB cups to cover the whole shebang!  Now that was a cake!

And we got baby cakes too!

It was one of the easiest cakes I ever made!

Want to know why?

It all starts with a Devils Food cake mix!

Ohh…  you could make a scratch cake,

but I didn’t.

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

1 Devil’s food cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped peanut butter cups (plus more for garnishing)
8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Line with wax paper and coat paper.

In a large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down sides after 1 minute. Fold in 2 cups of the chopped peanut butter cups.

Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool cakes completely.

Place chopped dark chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring cream just to a boil and then pour over chocolate. Whisk until chocolate melts. Add peanut butter and whisk until smooth.

Trim each cake layer so the tops are flat. Place one layer on a cooling rack and pour 1 cup frosting on top. Spread evenly with a spatula. Add second layer and pour remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Smooth out with spatula.

Allow frosting to set for about 5-10 minutes and gently press remaining chopped peanut butter cup pieces all over top and sides of cake. Place in refrigerator for about an hour to set. Remove and serve.

Megan’s Notes-I used 1 bag of the Reese’s Dark Chocolate PB cups in the batter and  1 container of Trader Joe’s tiny PB cups for the garnish.