Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake - What A Girl Eats (2024)

Looking for a fantastic celebration cake? Chocolate peanut butter cake is the perfect cake! It has layers of milk chocolate cake, rich peanut butter filling, and vanilla peanut butter frosting. This peanut butter chocolate cake has been my mom’s go-to birthday cake for family birthdays since the cookbook came out in 2012.(This post was originally published on September 20th, 2012)

It’s definitely for peanut butter lovers! With two layers of moist chocolate cake, a fluffy peanut butter filling, a thin layer of the creamy peanut butter frosting, this is truly a decadent cake, and one of our favorites for special occasions!

The recipe for this chocolate peanut butter cake recipe is from a cookbook calledBaked Elementsby Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. If this recipe is any indication of the rest of the book, the rest of the book bound to be fabulous!

What you’ll need for milk chocolate layers

• 2ouncesmilk chocolatecoarsely chopped
• 1/2cupdark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup hot coffee (I like to keep espresso powder on hand for baking)
• 1/3cupwhole milk
• 1 1/3 cupsall-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoonbaking soda
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• 5 ouncesunsalted buttersoftened, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1cupdark brown sugarfirmly packed
• 1/2 cupgranulated sugar
• 3large eggs
• 1 teaspoonvanilla extract

Ingredients for peanut butter filling

• 2 ouncesunsalted butter,softened, cut into ½ inch cubes.
• ½cupsmooth peanut butter
• ½cupplus 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugarsifted
• 1 teaspoonvanilla

Ingredients for peanut butter frosting

• 1 cupgranulated sugar
• ¼ cupall-purpose flour
• 1cupwhole milk
• ¼cupheavy cream
• 8 ouncesunsalted buttercool but not cold, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoonpeanut butter filling
• 1 teaspoonvanilla

For the top of the cake

• 1/4 cup roasted salted peanuts chopped
• 2 ouncesdark chocolateshaved

How to make this chocolate peanut butter cake

For the chocolate layers

• Pre-heat oven to 325* F. Butter two8-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Dust lightly with flour. ( I love these round parchment baking sheets. No need to cut!)

• Place the chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Pour hot coffee over the chocolate and cocoa and whisk until combined. Add the milk, whisk until smooth.

• In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy about 3 minutes.

See Also

Peanut Butter Homemade Cookie Cake - Live Well Bake OftenPeanut Butter Cake w/ Whipped Peanut Butter FrostingPeanut Butter Cup Stuffed Blondies (PB Frosting & Ganache!) - Blue BowlCreamy Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie - Baker by Nature

• Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.

• Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again for 30 seconds.

• Add the flour mixture in three parts alternating with the chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

• Divide batter between the prepared pans and smooth the tops.

• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pans halfway, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

• Transfer the pans to a cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Invert pans onto wire racks and let cool completely.

Peanut butter filling

• In a mixer, beat the butter on high until smooth.

• Add the peanut butter and beat on medium-low speed until just combined.

• Add the confectioner’s sugar and the vanilla.

Beat until smooth. Set aside.

Homemade peanut butter frosting

• In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened 10 to 15 minutes.

• Transfer the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Beat on high until cool, at least 7 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter, mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add 4 teaspoons of reservedpeanut butter fillingand the vanilla and continue mixing until combined.

• If the frosting is too soft, refrigerate to chill slightly then beat again to proper consistency. If the frosting is too firm, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.

Assembling the cake

• Place bottom layer on serving platter. Evenly spread withpeanut butter filling.

• Then spread about ¼ cup ofVanilla Peanut Butter Frostingon top of the filling. I like to use anoffset spatula.

• Add the next layer, and then a thin crumb coat to the side of the cake.

• Frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle peanuts and shaved chocolate shavings around the edges of the cake.

• Leftover cake can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. If it lasts that long!

Make ahead tips

I’m not going to lie, this is not an quick and easy one bowl cake. If you’d like to make some of the elements ahead of time, here are my suggestions.

• Make the chocolate cake layers up to a week in advance. Cool layers and wrap well in plastic wrap and freeze. When ready to assemble the cake, defrost the layers at room temperature for about an hour.
• Make the peanut butter filling a day ahead of time and refrigerate.
• You can make the homemade peanut butter frosting a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cake. The frosting might need to sit at room temperature if it’s not spreadable.

Looking for more chocolate cake recipes?

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Guinness Stout Chocolate Pudding Cakes with Salted Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting

The Queen’s favorite Chocolate Biscuit Cake