My husband is very addicted to the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Surprisingly, there have been very few posts on my blog with this flavor combination.
This peanut butter cake has a very tender crumb, which can be attributed to the cake flour in the mix. Having the peanut butter in the batter created a crispy caramel crust on the edges of the cake.
After creating this, I decided the next time I make this, it will be in loaves instead of a bundt pan. That way the batter will take less time to bake and not be as toasty on the edges. This one was a little too crispy in an effort to make sure the cake was done in the center.
Also, the peanut butter does pair better with milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet. Semi sweet is tasty but I found it a little too bitter strong when paired with the peanut butter. Another option is to put mini chopped peanut butter cups in the batter instead of icing the cake.
Peanut Butter Bundt Cake
adapted from Penzey's Spice Catalog
Ingredients
5 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Icing
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips
In this particular recipe, you do not preheat the oven. Prepare a 10 inch bundt pan by greasing and flouring the interior. Place a cooling rack over a sheet of wax paper.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Fill the bowl of a stand mixer with butter and sugar. Cream both ingredients together by beating at medium speed for about 2 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended. Add one egg to the batter and beat for 30 seconds. Repeat this process with each egg, until all eggs have been beaten into batter. Then add the vanilla and beat for about 30 seconds.
Fold in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients. Add 1/2 cup of milk and stir until completely blended. Fold in 1/2 of the remaining sifted ingredients then stir in the remaining milk. Lastly, add the rest of the sifted ingredients and blend together.
Scoop the batter evenly into the prepared pan and place in oven. Then turn the oven on to 375 degrees. Let cake bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes and use tester to see if done. Cake may take up to 1 hour and 35 minutes to bake.
Once done, remove pan from oven and let cool for 20 minutes and invert onto cake rack to finish cooling.
For icing, place chips in a heat proof bowl with a wide bottom (like a pasta bowl). Level the chips out evenly in the bottom of the bowl. Fill a small saucepan with the heavy cream. Place over medium heat and let heat up. Once you see the first bubble from boiling, remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 2 minutes and then stir until smooth.
Pour over cooled cake and let rest for 3 minutes. Scrape any chocolate off of the wax paper and spoon over cake. Wait 2 hours for icing to set before slicing and serving.
Tips and Notes:
1. A tube cake pan can also be used.
2. If you do not have cake flour, use regular flour plus cornstarch. Remove 1 tbs of flour per cup and replace with 1 tbs cornstarch. Sift together 5 times to insure cornstarch is dispersed evenly through flour.
3. Chocolate chips should be at room temperature for easier melting.
4. If you find that your cake does not come out when initially inverting, try setting the cake pan in a cold water bath a few minutes to quickly cool it for release.
**LAST YEAR: Cheesecake Swirl Bars*