This cake is a combination of two things so many of us like the most: peanut butter and chocolate cake all in one. When it comes to these two ingredients, you just can’t go wrong.
The saltiness from peanut butter complements chocolate in the cake so well. It is well-known that salt enhances sweet flavours. While this is a pretty easy cake to put together, there are a few things that will make it go a little more smoothly for you. When you’re assembling the cake, stack it all up and put it in the fridge for a few minutes to help the frosting stabilize. Once you have it all frosted and pretty, put it in the fridge again to let the frosting harden a bit before you pour the ganache over the top. And along those lines, allow the ganache to cool just a bit before pouring it over your cake.
For the cake:
150 g all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
60 g cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling water
120 g heavy cream
200 g butter, unsalted, softened
250 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
Pinch of baking soda
For the frosting:
250 ml whipping cream
150 g peanut butter, smooth
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 g powdered sugar
1. Beat softened butter with electric mixer with sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs, one by one, then heavy cream. In a separate bowl, combine boiling water with cocoa powder. Add to the egg batter. In the end, add flour sifted with baking soda and salt.
2. Preheat oven to 180C.
3. Line three cake tins (diameter 15 cm) with baking paper. Divide the cake batter into three equal parts, transfer each into a baking pan.
4. Bake for 35 minutes (insert the toothpick to check if the cake is done, the toothpick needs to come out clean). Let cool completely.
5. In the meantime, prepare the frosting. With electric mixer, beat peanut butter with powdered sugar. Add vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add it gradually to the peanut butter mixture and combine evenly.
6. Frost each of the three cakes and reserve some frosting for decorations.
