I'm a victim of the wickedness of peanut butter. It is just...mmmm...perfect in every way. Dessert is ideal with chocolate and/or peanut butter in my opinion. There was no one recipe I followed for this version. Really, I found a classic vanilla cake recipe from Food Network and then improvised the peanut butter and a chocolate ganache. Simple enough!By complete chance, this vanilla cake ended up tasting nearly identical to the Tasty Kake's vanilla cake! It was deja vu, big time! It brought me back to being a kid and taking a package of peanut butter tasty kakes out of the fridge; I always loved them chilled. Same with the chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing, which are my dad's favorite. I think...he changes his story a lot :-P I asked Hubby what he thought, and he agreed that it was pretty dead on. Freaky!
After the cake cooled, I took a big old dollop (OK, really big) of peanut butter and nuked it in the microwave for about a minute. This makes the peanut butter a bit runny and glossy; easily spreadable. Also, it keeps you from having to "melt" the peanut butter down with heavy cream or whatnot to get it spreadable. Cool huh? So I spread the peanut butter all over the cake, and let it cool (the pb was warm) as I made the chocolate ganache.Ganache really is easy. The fancy name leads you to believe it's harder to make than it actually is. All you do is throw your desired chocolate (I used chips, but you can shave or chop your own chocolate) in a double boiler with heavy cream (again, I used 1/2 and 1/2. It's a staple in our house). You can add a tsp of vanilla if you like or even a splash of coffee liqueur if you want to get fancy. Mine was only chocolate and cream since I was going traditional. (FYI: Costco has the best chocolate chips I've ever tasted. Next time you're there, skip the name brand, save some money, and be wowed by their generic chips!)
So once the ganache was all melty, gooey, and screaming my name, it was poured over the peanut butter. Voila! Into the freezer it went so the chocolate and all could set. Plus, I just like them super cold :)
Other than leaving them in a tad too long, making the cake difficult to slice, they were just what the doctor ordered! I've been topping one every night with some fat-free frozen yogurt, and yum!! The froyo seeps into the cake, soaking up even more flavor, and...mmmm...it's a dream. Definitely gotta make these for my dad next time he's in town!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pans (I used cooking spray and subbed margarine for nearly 1/2 the butter)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup heavy cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-inch-round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper; butter the parchment and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
Whisk 3 cups flour, the baking powder and salt in a bowl until combined. Beat 2 sticks butter and the sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium; beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. (The mixture may look separated at this point.)
Mix 1/2 cup water with the cream in a liquid measuring cup or bowl. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour, until just smooth.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until the cakes are lightly golden on top and the centers spring back when pressed, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto the racks to cool completely. Remove the parchment. Trim the tops of the cakes with a long serrated knife to make them level, if desired.
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