Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake; a simple dessert made with layers of moist chocolate cake and fluffy peanut butter frosting.
Classics are classics for a reason.
Soft chewy cookies, bursting with wonderfully uneven puddles of melting chocolate chunks. Fluffy vanilla-laced muffins, heaving over their paper cases and bursting with blueberries. Simple sponge cakes, stacked atop each other with something deliciously sweet slathered in between.
The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is no different. Perhaps the best living example of the human desire to devour sweet and savoury together. Both such bold flavours when eaten independently, and yet so deliciously compliant with each other in the same mouthful. That salty earthiness from peanut butter perfectly mellowing out the bold richness of dark cocoa. Of course, chucking flour, butter, sugar, and eggs into the mix helps too.
Today’s recipe is a neon yellow highlight brushed over the word classic. Combining chocolate and peanut butter with the timeless temptation of a good old-fashioned cake.
Love chocolate and peanut butter together? Try out these classic Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!
This Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake is as enjoyable to make as it is to eat. No faff, no expensive ingredients, no hours of waiting, just pure bliss. The layers of simple moist chocolate cake are no problem to whip up, and carelessly spreading that thick fluffy peanut butter frosting on top never stops being fun.
It served as a truly glorious antidote to a horrific wisdom tooth issue I was surprised by early last week. I woke up on Monday morning looking like a squirrel preparing for winter; cheek puffed up like an unsightly fleshy balloon. After a round of antibiotics, much grumpiness, and a pretty much liquid diet for 5 days, I needed some joy. Following a consistent stream of soups, smoothies, and mashed potatoes, I felt like nothing would hit the spot like a cake I could softly chew my way through. This Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake could not have been a better choice.
While filming a fun little Saturday vlog for all my lovely YouTube subscribers, I decided that this cake, and all of its beautiful brown shades, would be my dinner.
This Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake will give you the chocolate cake you’ve always loved. Light and fluffy while still delivering the damp chocolatey indulgence that a good chocolate cake should. It’s delicious forked into one’s mouth on its own, but paired with that properly peanut-buttery frosting, it’s an utter dream. A whipped beige beauty, the peanut butter frosting only contains 4 ingredients and yet achieves complete addictive status. Both supremely sweet and richly savoury at the same time, again delicious in its own right but wonderful when tasted alongside the cake.
As you can likely see, I kept the presentation truly classic and rustic, Granny’s kitchen style. Of course you could dress this up as much as you like:
- you could slice in half the baked cake layers to create a taller, fancier, 4-layer cake;
- you could double the recipe up for a wider 9″ cake to feed the family; or
- you could even use this recipe to make 12 peanut butter chocolate cupcakes!
In terms of ingredients, I couldn’t recommend anything but Pip & Nut’s smooth peanut butter to make this cake’s peanut butter frosting. They were kind enough to gift me the jar you see pictured, along with the rest of their brand new glass jar range being released this month – they’re all fully reusable and recyclable! I’d also always encourage trying out Cocoa Runners’ cocoa powder for the chocolate cake (use code MaverickBaking10 for 10% off!). Otherwise, feel completely free to use whichever ingredients brands you like.
However you choose to bake and enjoy this Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, I hope you love it as much as have. Whether you share it or keep it all to yourself, enjoy!
To make this Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, simply follow the recipe below:
Want to save this Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake for later? You can pin the image below!
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake:
- 200g (13 ½ tbsp) soft salted butter/margarine
- 180g (1 cup, not packed down) soft light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 160g (1 ¼ cups) self-raising flour
- 30g (¼ cup) cocoa powder (I like Cocoa Runners)
- 75ml (⅓ cup) plain yoghurt or buttermilk
For the peanut butter frosting:
- 150g (15 tbsp) soft salted butter
- 150g (15 tbsp) smooth peanut butter (with no added palm oil) (I like Pip & Nut)
- 250g (2 cups) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Chocolate shards, to decorate (optional)
Instructions
For the chocolate cake:
- Preheat your oven – 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F / gas mark 4. Grease two 15cm (6in) round cake tins, and line thee bases with a circle of greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl, beat all the cake ingredients together until just smooth and combined. This is best done with an electric whisk or stand mixer but can also be done by a good old hand whisk!
- Spoon the mixture evenly between the two prepared tins and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and springy to touch.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely in their tins.
For the peanut butter frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat together your butter, peanut butter, icing sugar, and vanilla for a few minutes until you have a pale and fluffy frosting.
- Once your chocolate cake layers are cooled, place one on your serving plate.
- Slather half of the peanut butter frosting on top, and sandwich with the second chocolate cake.
- Spread on the remaining peanut butter frosting and scatter some chocolate shards over the top.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: Why not add a couple of shots of espresso to the chocolate cake batter for an even bolder flavour? Why not throw some sliced bananas and some salted caramel between the layers to make an even richer dessert?
This Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake will keep well in an airtight container for up to 3 days – no need to refrigerate unless you live somewhere very warm!
