This is another adaption of my chocolate cake recipe! Made with oil, it keeps really well and it is certainly not a dry cake but light and moist.
My youngest son requested my chocolate cake for his birthday this year. I thought I would add his favourite peanut butter and make a chocolate and peanut butter cake for a surprise.
The butter icing has lots of peanut butter in it and I added some chopped peanuts on the top for a bit of crunch and finished It off with some mini peanut butter cups.
Why use oil in a cake and what does it do?
Vegetable oil give moistness far more reliably to a cake than butter. Therefore cakes made with oil tend to be moister than their butter based equivalent. The texture of cake made with oil has a more even crumb and they tend to stay moist and tender far longer than a cake made with butter.
This is a very easy cake to make as there is no creaming butter and sugar etc. To start put all the dry ingredients in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Then add all the wet ingredients and whisk until everything is incorporated and you can’t see any flour. The mixture will be quite runny but this is how it should be.
The mixture is then divided between the three tins. There is no need to level them as the batter is runny it will find its own level. Then transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool slightly then take out of the tins and place in cooling racks as they need to be completely cold before icing.
Next to make the butter icing. Place the butter in a stand mixer or use a hand mixer and cream it until it is lighter in colour. Then add the peanut butter and sieved icing sugar gradually until it is all incorporated. If it is too soft you can always add some more sieved icing sugar to thicken it up.
Now place one of the cakes on a board, plate or cake stand you want to use. Then put the icing in an icing bag with a Wilton 1M star nozzle and starting from the outside of the cake ice around the edge making your way into the middle of the cake.
When you have finished place the next cake on top and continue the icing the same on the next layer.
Then top with the last layer and smooth over a thin layer of icing in the centre of the cake.
Finally pipe another row of stars around the edge then put the roughly chopped peanuts in the middle. Finally put a mini peanut butter cup on top of each piped star around the edges.
Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake
Sarah’s Servings: 10
Sarah’s Skill: Medium
Baking Time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients
Cake
300g Plain Flour
3tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
225g Caster Sugar
60g Golden Syrup
3 Large Eggs
225 ml Vegetable Oil
225 ml Milk
Icing
250g Butter
250g Smooth peanut butter
350g Icing Sugar
Small bag of peanuts roughly chopped
Mini peanut butter cups to decorate
Method
Preheat oven 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) Gas Mark 4.
Line and grease 3 x 8 inch tins.
Weigh all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer then make a well in the middle and add all the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
Divide between the three tins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins.
Next to make the icing beat the butter until light and fluffy then add the peanut butter and icing sugar.
Now place one of the cakes on a board, plate or cake stand you want to use. Then put the icing in an icing bag with a Wilton 1M star nozzle and starting from the outside of the cake ice around the edge making your way into the middle of the cake.
When you have finished place the next cake on top and continue the icing the same on the next layer.
Then top with the last layer and smooth over a thin layer of icing in the middle leaving about 2cm bare around the edge.
Finally pipe another row of stars around the edge then place the chopped peanuts in the middle. Finally top each star with a mini peanut butter cup.
Sarah's Extra Slice........
You can bake in three shallow 8 inch tins or two deep 8 inch tins. If baking two cakes then it will take an extra 10 minutes to bake. See my Cherry & Chocolate cake for the 2 tin method.
This cake is nice and moist due to the oil and keeps well.
The icing nozzle I used was a Wilton 1M piping tip.
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