Ingredients

The following ingredients have 11 Servings
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural or homemade)
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 3 ounces volume heavy whipping cream (just over 1/4 cup)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla

Instruction

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 8” cake rounds. Line them with parchment paper and then grease the pans again, then flour them. (See note)
  • Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
  • Add melted butter to a large bowl and mix in sugar with a hand mixer for 30 seconds until thick and yellow. Add eggs one at at time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla bean paste.
  • Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Don’t over mix! Divide batter among cake pans. Bake for 24-28 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before removing from pans to frost.
  • At this point, you can decide how you want to fill the cake. You can use the two layers as-is or you can torte them for a 4-layer cake. Note: if you do not torte the layers, you can cut the recipe for the peanut butter filling in half.
  • Make the filling: beat peanut butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar (using a hand or a stand mixer). Add the second cup of powdered sugar and mix, the mixture will be crumbly. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream. Mix until smooth. Add another 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and mix until smooth. Add the rest of the heavy whipping cream a little bit at a time and beat until the mixture becomes a frosting like texture. (You’ll notice a change - it will go from thick like a peanut butter cup to smooth like frosting during that last addition of the cream.)
  • Place the bottom cake layer on serving plate. Divide your filling and fill between each layer.
  • Make the frosting: mix cocoa and melted butter with a hand mixer. Add powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and optional salt, if using. Mix between powdered sugar additions - the mixture will be clumpy. Add the vanilla and 1 ounce of the heavy whipping cream. Mix until smooth. Continue adding the heavy whipping cream until your desired thickness has formed - about 3 ounces (just over 1/4 cup).
  • Use a small amount of frosting to create a “crumb coat” on the outside of the cake. This will ensure that you will not have cake crumbs in your final frosting layer. The crumb coat just uses a very small amount of frosting and is very thin all over the cake. Then frost as normal using the remaining frosting. Top with sprinkles, if desired.
  • The cake is best served at room temperature but I would store it in the refrigerator if you make it ahead of time, then let it come to room temperature before serving. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.