Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake
I wanted to make a cake for a departing colleague that would hit all the right notes. They love peanut butter and sweet chocolate, and since they’d been avoiding cake at work, I knew I had a challenge. Starting with my recipe for THE Chocolate Cake, I added a peanut butter buttercream that’s perfectly balanced—sweet, salty, and nutty. Topped with a white chocolate ganache drip and chopped peanuts, this cake is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. My colleague certainly enjoyed it—they had more than one slice!
Serves 10-12
Hands-on Time 40 minutes (plus cooling)
Baking Time 25 minutes
Ingredients
350g unsalted butter (softened, plus extra for greasing)
40g + 2 tsp cocoa powder
50ml + 3 tbsp full-fat milk
120g dark chocolate (minimum 70%)
300g caster sugar
4 medium eggs (separated)
240g self-raising flour
½ tsp salt (divided)
150g soured cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g smooth peanut butter
300g icing sugar
100ml single cream (optional, for ganache)
100g white chocolate (optional, for ganache)
Handful of unsalted peanuts (chopped, for decoration)
Equipment
Scissors
Baking parchment
2 x 20cm fixed or push-bottom cake tins
Saucepan
Spatula
2 large bowls
Electric or hand whisk
Sieve
Wide bowl
Wire rack
Microwaveable bowl
Palette knife
Disposable piping bag and nozzle (optional)
Method
1. Prepare the tins
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C (fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
Line the cake tins with parchment circles. Grease the tins and dust with 1 tsp cocoa powder each, tapping out any excess.
2. Make the cake batter
Melt 200g butter and 50ml milk in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, add the dark chocolate, and stir until melted. Let cool.
Whisk 150g sugar and the egg yolks in a large bowl until pale and thick.
In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the remaining 150g sugar. Whisk to stiff peaks.
Sieve the flour, 40g cocoa, and 1/8 tsp salt into a wide bowl.
Mix the soured cream and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture. Add this to the egg yolk mixture and stir gently.
Fold in the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the egg whites, until just combined.
3. Bake the cakes
Divide the batter between the tins and bake on the middle shelf for 25 minutes.
Cool in the tins for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Make the peanut butter buttercream
Whisk 150g butter and the icing sugar until smooth. Add the peanut butter and ¼ tsp salt, and whisk again.
Add 3 tbsp milk and whisk until light and smooth enough to pipe. Adjust consistency with extra milk if needed.
5. Assemble and decorate
Place one cake layer bottom-side down. Spread 1/3 of the buttercream on top.
Sandwich with the second cake layer, top-side down.
Use 1/3 of the buttercream to fill gaps and coat the sides and top of the cake. Smooth with a palette knife or create decorative swirls.
6. Optional ganache drip
Heat the single cream until steaming. Pour over the white chocolate and stir until smooth. Let cool to a ribbon consistency.
Spoon the ganache over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Chill to set.
Pipe using the remaining buttercream and decorate with chopped peanuts.
Enjoy!