Peanut Butter Cake, two 8 or 9-inch rounds (so you'll have one for later)
2cupsall-purpose flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonsalt
½cupcreamy peanut putter
1/3cupoil
1 ½cupssugar
1teaspoonvanilla
3large eggs
1cupmilk
Peanut Butter Ice Cream
1 ¼cupsheavy whipping cream
½cuppowdered sugar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Inplace of whipping your own creamyou can use 8 oz of cool whip
8ozcream cheese room temperature
½cupsugar
1 ½cupscreamy peanut butter
¼cupmilk
1cupchopped peanut butter cups
Peanut Butter Frosting
1cupbutter room temperature
1 ½cupcreamy peanut butter
1 ½teaspoonvanilla
½teaspoonsalt
6cupspowdered sugar
½cupmilk
Chocolate Ganache
1cupchocolate chips I use dark chocolate
¾cupheavy cream
1 ½teaspooncorn syrup optional
Other
Bite size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for decorating
Instructions
NOTE: You will need to allow time for the ice cream to firm up. I make this cake over a two-day time-frame.
Day ONE, first I bake and cool my cakes. Next, I prepare the ice cream layers and let them set up overnight
Chocolate Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray
Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, this makes for easy cake removal
Spray pans again and dust pans with flour
Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
Combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a separate bowl
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on low speed until combined
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl
Add the coffee and mix on low again until combined, batter will be very wet
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
Cool in the pans for 30 minutes
Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and cool completely
Peanut Butter Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray
Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, this makes for easy cake removal
Spray pans again and dust pans with flour
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside
Mix the peanut butter, oil, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well combined
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and mix on low until just combined
Repeat with the remaining flour and milk and mix until just combined
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
Cool in the pans for 30 minutes
Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and cool completely
Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Place heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in bowl and mix on high speed until stiff peaks form, set aside
Combine cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter and milk in another bowl and mix until well combined
Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture
Add chopped peanut butter cups and fold gently
Make into two layers of ice cream to fit between your cake layers
NOTE: The layers of ice cream can be prepared two different ways…
The first method of making your ice cream into layers can be done in the cake pans that you baked in, just cover the bottom and the inside of two pans with clear wrap, be sure the clear wrap covers the entire inside of your pan and allow it to hang over the sides so that you can pull the ice cream layer out easily once it’s ready. Spread half of your ice cream into one of your cake pans pressing it down and smoothing it evenly. Do the same in a second cake pan, cover and place them in the freezer to set (6 – 8 hours or overnight).
The second method of ice cream layering is what I’ve now adopted. Wrap one of your cake layers in a cake collar (these were hard for me to find locally but they can be ordered online, search for acetate cake collars). Wrap the collar around a layer of cake and fasten the collar with a couple pieces of tape on the outside. This will form a liner around and above the cake. Now add half of your ice cream to the top of your cake layer and spread it out evenly all the way to the sides of the cake layer. Do this again with a second cake and the other half of the ice cream. Once you’ve topped two of your cake layers with ice cream, place them in the freezer to set.
Day TWO, I prepare the frosting, the ganache and I assemble my cake
Peanut Butter Frosting
Cream together the butter and peanut butter on medium high until smooth
Add vanilla and salt and continue to mix
Mix in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time while alternating with 1 tablespoon of milk until fully combined
Continue to mix until frosting is the desired consistency, you can add additional milk if the frosting is too thick or more powdered sugar if it is too thin
Chocolate Ganache
Place the chocolate chips into a heat proof bowl
Heat the heavy cream in saucepan just until it begins to steam, be careful not to scorch the cream
Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate chips and allow to sit for 1 - 2 minutes while the chocolate begins to soften
Stir the heavy cream into the chocolate chips until fully combined
Add the corn syrup and stir to combine, the corn syrup will give your ganache a glossy finish
Allow to cool
Assembly
Place one layer of chocolate cake on serving plate, top with a layer of ice cream (if you layered the ice cream on your cake already, then place a ready layered cake/ice cream on serving plate). Drizzle a small amount of ganache over ice cream. Repeat with the next layer of cake, ice cream, ganache drizzle and then the last layer of cake
Frost the cake with a thin layer of peanut butter frosting. I like the cake to look a bit "naked" so I run my bench scraper around the outside to even out the frosting and leave just a crumb coated look to help protect the cake from the freezer (hold the bench scraper parallel to the side of the cake and rotate around the cake smoothing the frosting). The frosting will firm up fast since the cake is cold so you will need to be speedy.
Drizzle ganache around the outside top of the cake and allow it to run down the sides. Then spread ganache over the top of the entire cake.
Finish the cake with peanut butter frosting swirls and peanut butter cups
Store the cake in the freezer
To serve, allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before cutting