So last week I told you how amazing swiss meringue buttercream tastes when you turn it into Peanut Butter Buttercream. Today, I promised I would give you the recipe for the best way I’ve found to demolish that frosting – in this ridiculously delicious sugar loaded layer cake!
I’m going to be straight up and just tell you that I really like using box cake mixes. They make it easy – some of my favorite desserts have a box cake mix foundation, but I do like to experiment with the cake mixes. I made some changes to the regular preparation for this one and it turned out SO good. Moist, but very light and fluffy – the perfect compliment to the creamy peanut butter and rich chocolate ganache.
An easy way to make perfect layers is by using one of these nifty sets of single layer cake pans. They come in a set of five so you can divide your one batch of cake mix evenly between the pans and bake them up all at the same time. I found mine at Target, but you can also find them online here – Easy Layers! 5-Piece Cake Pan Set
(aff link). Okay! So, you divide your mix evenly between the pans and bake them up – about 15-18 minutes. Once the cakes are cooled down. use a large bread knife to slice the tops off straight across – this will give you nice flat layers to work with and ensure that they’re all sliced off evenly. As you stack the layers, use a consistent measuring cup to add the frosting between the layers – I used ½ c. between each layer and smoothed it to the edges before pressing the next cake layer on. Do not add frosting to the very top layer (unless you want to fully frost the whole cake, of course).
We’re going for the “messy” look on this cake by leaving it unfrosted and drizzling chocolate ganache over the top. Once you have all of your layers stacked and pressed gently together, use a large icing spatula to smooth around the outside of the cake. Then, it’s time to make the ganache: heat ⅔ C. heavy whipping cream and 1 Tablespoon of corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat until it simmers. Pour warm cream mixture over ¾ C. semi-sweet chocolate chips. Allow chips to melt a little and then whisk the mixture until smooth and pourable. Pour the ganache over the center of the top of the cake until it runs down the sides – however much you like.
Now you can leave your cake with just the ganache poured over the top or you can add some decorations. I used Tip #1M to add a border of peanut butter frosting peaks around the top of the cake. Then, I dumped on some peanut butter chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups. I would use mini chocolate chips in the future, but didn’t have any on hand. Now, go slice that cake and indulge!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box of Betty Crocker triple chocolate fudge cake mix or similar
- 1 C. water
- ½ C. vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ C. sour cream
- 1 recipe of Peanut Butter Buttercream
Instructions
- Grease five, 6-inch cake pans.
- Beat all ingredients in an electric mixer.
- Divide mixture between cake pans, approximately ¾ C. per pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cake is set and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.
- Layer cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream and top with ganache (recipe links included in blog post).
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Jessica Alvarez says
hello, I was looking to buy this cake pan set and was wondering from your experience how high the 5 layers in total ended up being? as well as how many people/ slices it was able to feed and make? Thank you so much!
girlinspired says
Hi Jessica – I can’t remember exactly how high it stacked – I’d say about 6″ – it was a nice tall, but not too tippy tall height. As far as feeding people, though, you could maybe get 10 slices out of it with a really rich cake like this one.