Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

March is a month of birthday's at our house. So, I'm bringing you this lovely cake all in the name of recipe testing for the inevitable cakeapalooza to come. Despite writing a baking/food blog I often find myself a bit stumped on the birthday cake front. So many amazing cakes, so little time to make them all. How to decide?? I love cake, love making it, love eating it, love pretty much everything about it, just not icing it. I prefer to think that my cake icing skills are "rustic". Yeah. Homey, down home, etc. but definitely not pretty. So, that's a bit why I've stayed away from blogging about them.

I do love that the current trend toward cakes seems to embrace the rustic, crumb coated more boho and less chic, vibe. This completely suits my skills and it just seems well, more charming. So, enough about my cake insecurities let's talk about the real reason you are here; this cake. There are few words to adequately describe how good this is. This is a dense, not too sweet, brownie like cake, layered with whipped, lightened peanut butter mousse and slathered with gorgeous chocolate ganache. I want to curl up in my bed with a slice of this, a big glass of milk and the latest episode of True Detective. That would be a day of guilty pleasures fur shure.

Anything chocolate and peanut butter reminds me of my dad, my cinnamon bun loving, Margarita swilling, pop and as he's approaching a big milestone birthday this month, I think I will make this for his special day. He's the one who taught me how to eat a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, the finer points of Baskin Robbins Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream and how Butterfinger candy bars always taste best when eaten, siting on a chair lift at Stevens Pass.

This cake is six inches, and three layers, (my most favorite size) and serves 8-10 people if sliced on the thin side. It's beautifully rich so I'd avoid serving the slices too thick. It's dense cake layer is super easy to ice, no crumbly bits to get in the way and the ganache is well, ganache. Gorgeous, not too sweet and a perfect foil for all that decadent goodness going on inside.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Serves 8-10
Cake: 12 oz. dark chocolate, morsels or chopped 1 C. unsalted butter 3 large eggs, room temperature 1 C. sugar 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 C. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt
Peanut Butter Filling: 3/4 C. heavy whipping cream 3 T. confectioners sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 1/4 C. creamy peanut butter
Ganache Icing: 12 oz. dark chocolate, morsels or chopped 1 1/2 C. heavy whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a heatproof bowl combine the chocolate and the butter. Place over a smaller saucepan of simmering water and stir periodically until melted. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs and the sugar. Beat on medium high until light, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract combine thoroughly. Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and add to the wet ingredients in three additions.
Butter and flour 3, 6" round baking pans or 2, 8" pans if you prefer. Divide the batter evenly into the pans and bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool 10 minutes in the pan then cool on cooling racks. Once cool, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
For the filling: Combine the whipping cream, the sugar and the extract in the bowl of a mixer and whip until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl whip the peanut butter until light. Fold the whipping cream into the peanut butter with a rubber spatula. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and place the bottom round on a cake plate. Divide the filling in half, and spread over the bottom layer. Repeat with the second layer. Place the cake back into the refrigerator, while you make the ganache.
For the ganache: Combine the whipping cream and the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk the ingredients periodically until the chocolate begins to melt. Turn off the heat and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Whisk until the ingredients are fully combined. Let sit at room temperature until the mixture begins to thicken, about 45 minutes.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator, use an offset spatula and ice the cake with the ganache. Store cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Recipe adapted from John Currence's Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey