This past weekend we attended a dinner party celebrating two of my good friends’ birthdays. My friend Allie cooked a fabulous dinner and I provided dessert. I remembered that her husband (and the birthday boy) loves the peanut butter and chocolate combination, so the moment I saw this cake I knew it would be perfect. This was definitely a huge hit with everyone at the party! I think this is actually the best chocolate cake I have ever made. It was incredibly fluffy and moist. And combined with the wonderful peanut butter frosting, it was to die for. Definitely make this cake – but make sure you have tall glasses of milk to serve alongside, you will need them!
Reese’s Cup Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (optional)
For decorating:
1 ½ – 2 batches peanut butter frosting
miniature Reese’s cups, halved and/or chopped
Directions:
For the cake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9×2” round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Place the pans on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until thoroughly blended into the butter. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk; add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the buttermilk in 2 (beginning and ending with the dry ingredients). Mix each addition only until it is blended into the batter. Scrape down the bowl and add the melted chocolate, if using, folding it in with a spatula. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.
Bake for 26-30 minutes or until the cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the pans. Transfer to wire racks to cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cardboard circle covered in foil. Spread peanut butter frosting on top of the cake layer. (If desired, sprinkle with chopped Reese’s cups.) Place the second cake layer on top of the frosting. Frost the top and outside of the cake with remaining peanut butter frosting. Decorate with halved and chopped Reese’s cups as desired.
Source: inspiration from Smells Like Home, cake from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, frosting from Ina Garten
This looks absolutely fabulous! Peanut butter and chocolate is my favorite dessert combination as well as my dad’s. I’ll have to remember this for his birthday (which thankfully is coming soon). It looks beautiful too!
Holy cow, that looks amazing! I need an excuse to make it, though, because I can’t have that just sitting around my house
Congrats on your beautiful new baby, too! I haven’t been nesting much at all lately, so I just noticed your siggy pic today. So cute!
Great work on the cake! That looks so fantastic! I will definitely need to make this for my husband.
That cake is so amazing! I love Reeses…and a whole cakeful is just awesome!
This looks wonderful! I just showed my husband and he wants a piece of the cake. I might have to make this to celebrate when he is done with school.
Okay, that looks so sinful… but so good. I’ve got to try this one.
Oh wow, looks fantastic! Love the pb and chocolate combo! Yum, yum, yum!!
This looks so good! I’m starring this for future cakes to make – thanks!
That looks crazy good!
WOW that is incredible! What a fabulous cake!!!
Wow, Annie, this looks SO good. My DH would love this, so he may luck out and maybe I’ll make it for him soon.
This cake makes me really sad that I’m allergic to nuts! It looks and sounds so extremely decadent, and there really is nothing better than the chocolate and PB combo! Awesome job!
Annie this looks incredible. This was the flavor combo for the groom’s cake at our wedding but this one looks even better! I’m making this for my FIL’s b-day next week!
Wow, Annie! This cake looks divine! This is most definitely in my file. My sister will love it!
isn’t it incredible?!? when I made it back in March, i never expected it to still be my top viewed post 4 months later! lol you did a fabulous job with it! PS – I made the Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake with Ina’s PB frosting recently, and it blew Dorie’s chocolate cake out of the water!
Wow… that looks fantastic (and beautiful)!
how could this not be a huge hit? it’s picture-perfect, and it happens to combine the best duo of ingredients known to man. awesome.
WOW this looks so yummy. You have blended 2 of my favorites.
Sadly cakes are not big in my house do you think this would work as cupcakes?? I cannot explain the boys logic here if I could get in their heads I would – but I think it is that they like prefer the grab and go size…
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
Cathy,
They would definitely work as cupcakes! See this post where I did something similar: . I used the same frosting but that time I used Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake. I preferred Dorie’s cake this time, so I would suggest using that recipe and just making cupcakes instead of regular cake. Good luck!
Okay, I don’t know why that link didn’t work – it is the “Cupcakes Galore” post from February. Check it out.
Oh wow Annie! You’ve really outdone yourself this time. The cake looks GORGEOUS and completely delicious.
That’s one decadent looking cake!
my husbamd would fall face first into this cake and eat his way out!! this looks wonderful!
Holy cow! This looks amazing. I think I know what to make for Jesse’s birthday cake this year!
BTW, did you change your blog layout? It’s showing up on my laptop a little spread out and I can’t see your header…..
What a beautiful and delicious looking cake!
Wow, this cake looks awesome! I wish I had SOME occasion right now to make it (Francis’s co-workers may be getting a cake for no reason soon…)!
that cake looks amazing!!!
Oh my. My stomach will thankyou for this recipe…my thighs however will not.
WOW this look absolutely incredible! I suddenly want a Reese’s PB cup.
This cake looks DELICIOUS!! I love peanut butter and chocolate together so I may have to try this!
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this looks beautiful and super tasty!
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Quick question: do you typically use the bittersweet chocolate when you make the cake? What are the advantages to adding it?
oh my gosh… there could not possibly be a more perfect cake for me!
i want this cake so badly why does my birthday have to be in march!!!!
Oh my! Will you come to my birthday party this year? Your cake turned out beyond amazing! If only I could get mine to look half as pretty I would be delighted.
Mmm. Yummy. You see, that’s the problem with homemade delicious cakes. They’re not available in bakeshops.
This is now my favorite cake! I originally baked the blackberry cupcakes off this site (these too were delicious, however the blackberries added too much liquid for me) when I wandered on to this cake. Everything about it is perfect. It isn’t too rich, the amount of peanut butter and chocolate is balanced, and the presentation is lovely. It wasn’t that much effort either. It was devoured. I’ll be sure to pass it along to others. Thank you for this recipe gem!
Oh wow! That looks absolutely delicious, I love how you took an old favorite and added your own twist. You also did an amazing job with the pictures, I will definitely try this recipe over the weekend.
I used Ina Garten’s “Double Chocolate Layer Cake” (as published in Food & Wine – http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/double-chocolate-layer-cake) for the cake, and her PB frosting from FoodNetwork.com as suggested. This cake recipe is almost identical to Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate cake. The addition of 1 cup of hot coffee makes the cake very light and airy, which is important when the frosting is so rich and dense. Delicious!
Found your site through Stumble Upon and I have got to say that cake looks FABULOUS. I am planning on making it for a dessert auction!
In Ireland, every late August, early September, there’s a festival called Electric Picnic. The infamous place where Kelly Osbourne apparently got married. Within this festival there’s a chapel. If you so choose to pay 40 euro you can get married in this chapel, the marriage counts within the festival grounds and throughout the festival. I am making and marrying this cake next year!!!
They look delicious.
Cute cake! I love the chocolate and peanut butter combination.
This is one i’m going to have to definitely try! Peanut butter and chocolate – excellent choice!
hello annie, my name is also annie and i just wanted to tell u that i lovvvveee ur dwebsite and i hope to start one like it soon but i dont know how to add all the effects and pictures, anyway this desert looks ultra delicious and i am ssoooo glad i stumbled upon it because i cannot wait tooo make one, thanks so much for ur inspiration!
– annie☺
Well I just finished making this wonderful looking and smelling cake. I’m taking it over to a friends tomorrow, so I can’t try it until then, but I know it’s gonna be good!