I did it. I actually made an entire cake from scratch. This isn’t an unprecedented feat, but it is a rare one. Those of you who know me are probably aware I prefer to make cakes with a box mix and top them with ridiculously good frosting from scratch to make up for it because that has always yielded me the best results. But the results I got with this one are just stupendous. Tremendous. Incredible.
OK, first about the cake itself (my favorite part, believe it or not). It is not only the easiest scratch cake I ever made (no mixer required!!), but also the BEST. Yes, I like it even better than carrot cake. Better than Clandestine Chocolate Fudge Cake. Better than any of the butter cakes from The Cake Bible. It is unbelievably tender and moist and such a deep dark chocolate that it is almost black. But it isn’t bitter in the slightest. It’s a thing of beauty.
The frosting is wonderful, though I’m accustomed to wonderful frosting so I don’t feel compelled to write a sonnet about it as I do with the cake. I know you might think, “Cream cheese and peanut butter? Ewwwww,” but just shut up and make it. It’s really good.
As for the chocolate peanut butter glaze, well it is the crowning glory that pulls the whole thing together. Imagine ganache (oooooooh), and then imagine it with peanut butter added (ahhhhhhhhh). It’s a marriage made in heaven and makes the whole cake so pretty without any decorating effort.
OK, so are you ready to make this cake? I thought so.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. (This was too thick for me to whisk–I had to use a spatula to get it all combined.) Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the prepared cake pans.
5. To decorate with the Chocolate–Peanut Butter Glaze, put the cake plate on a large baking sheet to catch any drips. Simply pour the glaze over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the glaze and frosting to set completely. Remove at least 2 hours before serving. Decorate the top with chopped peanut brittle.
Veronica’s note: OK, I had a devil of a time with this glaze. I tried to cheat and melt the chocolate, peanut butter and corn syrup in the microwave and it seized up. Or I thought it did. I discarded the brick-like mass and started over, melting it over the double boiler this time. But the same thing happened. The chocolate softened and I was able to combine everything, sort of, but it was this weird solid mass that wouldn’t liquify. I eventually had to add the the half and half just to get it to liquify and that did the trick. I’m telling you this just in case you have a similar problem so you’ll know how to fix it.
Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged chocolate peanut butter cake, sky high cakes. Bookmark the permalink.
OH. MY. GOODNESS. That looks amazing. I guess I know the next cake I will be making! I am super excited to try this. You did a great job! Wow wow! I can’t wait!
Girl, all i can say is oh my goodness! I have to leave your blog. I am craving sweets like crazy right now! Here is another one i want to make. Oh, well back to the grocery store tomorrow! Lol :) This looks wonderful!
This one is worth an extra trip to the store! Hope you like it, Cheryl.
Oh my word!!! This looks absolutely fabulous. Over the years my love for peanut butter has grown and then you went and added chocolate to it. Heaven. I can’t wait to make it.
This cake is simply awesome! My wife just followed your recipe and it turned out absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe to us. It also went really well with a hot cup of coffee made from one of my delonghi espresso machines at home Kudos!
wow very very moist!! the picture is really amazing..a 5 star rate! God blesses you more on ur baking..
Holy YUM! That is the most amazing looking cake I have ever seen, Veronica! Mmmmm…I can almost taste it….
Bless your heart for sharing these wonderful recipes. Love the pictures. Couple of questions: Does this cake have to be refrigerated after frosting and glazing or can it sit out at room temperature for a day or so? Also, do you always put the tops of the cakes together when you layer them?
No, don’t refrigerate it–it will last for several days at room temp and if you do refrigerate, make sure to take it out at least an hour prior to serving or the ganache will be too hard. And yes, I always put the tops together.
I cant get hold of dutch cocoa so can i use unsweetned cocoa instead ?
I have not tried it but I do know that it does react differently with leaveners than the dutch process cocoa. Let me know if it works for you!
I made this cake tonight! Awesome! Great texture. I ran out of sour cream. So half of it was greek yogurt. It was delicious! Thank you!
This is some num yummy cake! Worth writing a response about!! My kids are gonna be mad they feel asleep. Ha ha! I followed the instructions almost to the letter. I didn’t have any wax paper but that caused me no problems at all. I had been searching for a cake recipe for 2 days and came upon this one and I must say, I am so glad I did. Definitely going into the family cook book. Thanks for sharing.
That is so wonderful to hear!! You are very welcome.
Any cake can be used for a tiered cake if you do it correctly with dowel rods and cake boards, so that the cake isn’t supporting the cake, but the rods and board are. You can see how to do that in this post: https://veronicascornucopia.com/2009/06/02/cake-decorating-competition/ If you’re wanting a cake that can support another tier without the rods, I would go with a pound cake recipe.
I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s a very delicate cake and squashes easily.
This is my absolute favorite cake ever. EVER. But I want to make it for a crowd with a peanut allergy. Would I need to adjust any ingredients if I just leave out the peanut butter?
If taking out the peanut butter element, the cake would be unchanged, and leaving the peanut butter out of the frosting would be fine if you want a cream cheese frosting, otherwise find a good chocolate frosting recipe (I have some on my blog). And I’d just make a regular chocolate ganache – 4 oz semisweet chocolate, 4 1/2 oz heavy cream – microwave 50% power or 1 minute, stir well, then zap at 50% power in 15-30 second intervals, stirring well in between until shiny and smooth. Allow to cool before pouring over cake.